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Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


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fiimaga. 


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or  illustratad  imprassion. 


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d'imprassion  ou  d'illustration.  soit  par  la  sacond 
pla»,  salon  la  cas.  Tous  las  autros  axamplairas 
originaux  sont  filmte  an  commandant  par  la 
pramiAra  paga  qui  comporta  una  amprainta 
d'imprassion  ou  d'illustration  at  an  tarminant  par 
la  darniAra  paga  qui  comporta  una  tella 
amprainta. 


Tha  last  racordad  frama  on  aach  microficha 
shall  contain  tha  symbol  -^  (moaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  tha  symbol  y  (moaning  "END"), 
whichavar  appiias. 


Un  das  symbolas  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
darnlAra  imaga  da  chaqua  microfiche,  salon  la 
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symbols  V  signifia  "FIN". 


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baginning  in  tha  uppar  laft  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


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Lorsque  ie  document  est  trop  grand  pour  Atre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clichA,  il  est  film6  A  partir 
da  i'angia  supArieur  gauche,  de  gauche  A  droita, 
at  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  la  nombre 
d'images  nAcessaire.  Las  diagrammes  suivants 
iliustrant  la  mAthoda. 


1  2  3 


1 

2 

3 

4 

S 

6 

EEPORT 


4 


OF 


CHARLES  B.  STUART, 

CHIEF  ENGINEER, 


OF    THE 


(OOKPORT  AND  NIAGARA  FALM 


RAIL-ROAD  COMPANY, 


TO  THE 


DIRECTORS. 


SHOWING   THE    ESTIMATED   COST,    AND   PROBABLE    INCOME    OF 
THE  ROAD,  IP  EXTENDED  FROM  LOCKPORT  TO  ROCHESTER. 


JANUARY  I,  184G. 


r  \ 


ROCHESTER : 

rniNTlD  BY  J.  M.  rATTKESON  k.  CO.,  TALMAN  BLOCK,  FOTJUTTr  STOn\^ 

l«4f). 


w 


*1 


I 


LOCKPORT  AND  ROCHESTER  RAILROAD  COMPANY. 


To  the  President  and  Directors  of  the  Lockjport  and  Niagara 
Falls  Rail-Road  Corwpany, 

Gentlemen — 

In  obedience  to  your  instructions,  I  have  carefully  exam- 
ined the  route  of  the  proposed  extension  of  your  road  from 
Lockport  to  Rochester,  and  beg  leave  to  submit  to  you  some 
considerations,  in  reference  to  that  continuation. 

It  is  now  some  ten  years,  since  the  wants  of  the  public 
seemed  to  point  to  the  necessity  of  this  work,  but  since  the 
revival  of  the  spirit  of  improvement  in  this  country,  new 
motives  for  its  accomplishment  have  presented  themselves, 
which  now  urge  its  immediate  consummation.  It  is  my  purpose 
to  present  these  motives  in  a  brief  view,  which  will  serve  to 
show  the  importance  and  value  of  this  line,  both  to  the  stock- 
holders, and  to  the  community — as  an  investment,  and  as  a 
public  convenience. 

There  is  now  a  line  of  Rail-Roads  extending  from  Boston, 
to  Rochester,  a  distance  of  four  hundred  and  sixty-one  miles, 
and  another  from  Lockport  to  Niagara,  a  distance  of  twenty- 
two  miles,  (but  which  will  be  shortened  two  miles,  the  direct 
distance  being  but  sixteen  miles,)  leaving  only  the  space  of 
fifty-six  miles,  between  Lockport  and  Rochester,  to  be  filled 
up,  to  open  the  shortest  line  from  the  Eastern  Cities,  to  one  of 
the  greatest  natural  wonders  of  the  world ;  as  well  as  the 
most  direct  route  from  Boston  to  Detroit,  and  other  nlaces  in 
the  great  west. 

It  is  now  known  to  the  public,  that  the  cii})il!d  stock  of 


$6,000,000,  has  been  secured,  to  open  a  lino  of  Rail-Road 
through  Upper  Canada,  to  connect  with  the  work  in  actual 
progress  across  the  centre  of  the  state  ot  Michigan, — thus 
joining  the  fertile  lands  of  Michigan  and  Canada  West,  New 
England  and  New  York,  by  a  common  band,  extending 
through  a  space  of  nine  hundred  miles. 

The  road  which  you  propose  to  make,  must  form  a  part  of 
this  continuous  line,  and  great  thoroughfare  of  travel ;  since 
it  cannot  be  avoided,  but  by  deflecting  widely  from  the  direct 
course,  and  encountering  the  inconvenience  of  a  difficult,  and 
sometimes  impassable  fcrry^  at  the  outlet  of  Lake  Erie. 

The  location  of  your  road  is  a  most  happy  one.  It  matters 
not  to  what  point  the  Western  traveler,  arriving  at  Rochester 
may  be  directed — whether  it  be  for  the  Falls  of  Niagara ;  for 
Buflalo,  for  Canada,  or  any  part  of  the  Upper  Lakes, — the 
road  from  Roclicster  to  Lockport,  which  it  is  now  intended  to 
construct,  will  oiFer  the  most  favorable,  and  the  most  cxpedi"» 
tious  route. 

The  distance  from  Rochester  to  Niagara,  by  this  lino  will 
be  scvonty-six  miles.  The  distance  from  Rochester  to  the 
Falls,  by  the  way  of  Batavia,  Attica  and  Buffalo,  is  ninety- 
seven  miles,  and  tlio  distance  by  the  Packet  Boat  to  Lockport 
and  ihcnco  by  Kail-Road  to  the  Falls,  is  eighty-two  miles. 
By  the  Steainhoals,  from  Rochester  to  the  Falls,  via.  Lake 
Ontario  and  Lewiston,  the  distance  is  one  hundred  and  si.Y 
mil(\s. 

It  will  readily  be  seen,  that  the  existing  routes  to  the  Falls, 
are  much  longer  than  the  proposed  road,  require  much  more 
time,  and  great  addit  ional  expense,  and  arc  not  at  all  adequate 
1:o  the  traveling  comnnmity. 

In  going  to  the  Falls  from  Rochester,  via.  Lockport,  there 
will  be  a  saving  of  twenty-one  miles,  when  compared  with 
ihe  Atlica  and  Buffalo  route,  besides  avoiding  the  high  grades 
and  summits,  near  Batavia  and  Attica. 

If  Detroit  or  Canada  West  be  the  destination  of  the 
traveler,  and  the  eonUMiiplaled  bridge  across  the  Niagara 
T?iv(M-,  he  estnl)lish('d  at  the  narrowest  and  most  approprial<: 


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point ;  or  tho  staim  ferry  be  used  at  that  place,  the  saving  of 
distance  from  Hamilton  to  Rochester,  will  be  twcfity-four  miles, 
by  taking  the  Lockport  roulc.  If  it  should  be  desirable  to 
have  adircctline  to  Bufliiio,  a  road  could  be  constructed  nearly 
straight  from  Lockport,  with  no  grades  over  ten  feet  to  the 
mile,  that  would  not  exceed  the  route,  via.  Attica,  more  than 
two  miles  in  distance,  which  would  be  more  than  compensated 
for,  by  the  great  difference  in  the  grades  on  the  Attica  route  ; 
while  the  distance  from  the  proposed  Ferry  at  Fort  Erie,  is 
no  greater  via.  Lockport,  than  it  is  by  Attica  to  Rochester. 
So  that  view  the  subject  in  what  light  we  may,  this  is  the  true 
line  of  Western  trade  and  travel,  and  possesses  natural  and 
physical  advantages  which  arc  enjoyed  by  none  other.  [See 
Map,  annexed.] 

These  positions  are  factSj  and  cannot  be  controverted.  We 
pass  therefore  to  the  important  enquiry,  will  this  i.in^ 

PAY? 

The  traffic  upon  which  its  advocates  justly  count,  are: — 
I.     Tho  pleasure  travel  to  the  Falls  of  Niagara,  either  in 
going,  or  in  returning. 
3.     A  fair  diversion  of  the  Buffalo  travel. 

3.  The  way-traffic  of  the  line. 

4.  The  Canada  travel,  and    that  passing  through  Cana 
da  to  the  Western  States. 

5.  The  transportation  of  produce,  merchandise,  coal  anj 
iron,  to  and  from  the  Great  West  and  Canada. 

G.     The  carrying  of  the  United  States  Mail. 

To  estimate  the  amount  and  value  of  the  traffic  from  all 
these  sources,  with  any  great  degree  of  accuracy,  would  be 
impossible,  but  we  may  fairly  assume  that  the  aggregate  trav- 
el, exclusive  of  that  which  will  be  brought  by  the  Canada 
road,  (at  the  low  fare  charged,)  will  not  be  less  than  the  num- 
ber of  the  through  passengers  that  in  1844  passed  over  the 
Auburn  and  Syracuse  Rail  Road,  viz:  80,000.  The  way 
passengers  on  this  line  will  bo  equal  lo  60,000 — ^which  is 
10,000  less  than  the  way-1.ravcl  ontiio  Rochoslcr  and  Auburn 
Rail  Road  in  J, S44.     This  laruc  amouuL  of  jniticipatcd  way- 


6 

travel  is  here  justified  by  the  fact,  that  there  is  no  part  of  the 
present  line  from  Boston  to  Buffalo,  which  passes  through  a 
more  productive,  or  more  highly  cultivated  country,  than  thai 
bordering  the  celebrated  Ridge;  Road,  or  on  which  are  found 
an  equal  number  of  flourishing  places,  as  the  villages  of 
Brockport,  Clarkson,  Albion,  Gaines,  Medina,  Hartland, 
Lockport,  Lewiston,  Niagara  Falls,  and  other  villages  which 
are  strung  along  the  route  of  your  road,  embracing  within  a 
territory  of  thirty  miles  by  eighty,  a  population  of  over  130,- 
000.  [See  appendix.  Note  A."]  And  in  assuming  80,000  for 
the  number  of  through  passengers,  independently  of  the  ac- 
cession which  will  be  gained  from  the  completion  of  the  Can- 
ada Railway,  I  am  fully  justified  by  the  fact,  that  50,000  have 
visited  the  Falls  the  last  year,  while  there  arc  portions  of  the 
present  line  between  Albany  and  Rochester,  that  carry  more 
than  this  number.     [Sec  appendix,  Note  B.'\ 

When  to  this  is  added  the  rapid  increase  of  the  yearly 
pleasure  travel  to  Niagara,  being  more  than  ten  per  cent,  a 
year,  and  which  will  be  largely  augmented  by  the  attraction 
of  the  Suspension  Bridge,  and  the  large  and  elegant  hotels 
that  are  to  be  erected  the  coming  season,  it  cannot  be  doubt- 
ed that  this  increase  of  summer  travel  would  be  more  than 
doubled,  aad  would  counterbalance  any  loss  your  road  might 
sustain,  by  competing  with  rival  routes  for  the  Buffalo  travel. 

To  these  (juantitics  must  still  be  added  the  travel  which 
must  pass  to  and  from  Canada — that  to  which  existence  will 
be  given  by  the  simultaneous  opening  of  the  Great  Western 
Railway — an  cnterprize  to  which  it  is  believed,  all  the  com- 
panies from  the  Niagara  to  the  Hudson  will  be  indeblcxl  for 
an  increase  of  not  less  than  50,000  persons  annually.  [See 
appendix.  Note  C] 

In  this  estimate  of  business,  I  count  nothing  on  the  great 
and  rapid  increase  of  travel  which  has  been  experienced  on 
the  present  line  of  Railways,  and  which  is  to  be  looked  for  in 
an  augmented  ratio,  under  the  advancing  prosperity  of  the 
region  bordering  on  the  Western  Lakes. 


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During  the  past  season  of  navigation,  there  has  passed 
through  Rocliester  nearly  one  thousand  travelers  per  day,  of 
which  number  more  than  one-half  were  carried  on  Canal 
Boats,  at  a  charge  as  high  as  it  is  proposed  to  tax  on  your 
road.  Estimating  this  travel  on  the  Canal  at  five  hundred 
per  day  for  six  months  only,  and  it  makes  ninety  thousand,  of 
which  number  it  would  be  safe  to  estimate  fifty  thousand  as 
emigrants,  who  would  undoubtedly  pass  over  your  road  at 
one  and  a  quarter  cents  a  mile,  as  it  will  be  admitted  that  this 
route  will  afford  the  western  emigrant  a  rapid  and  cheap 
transportation ;  not  only  saving  the  expenses  often  incurred 
in  waiting  for  a  steamer  at  Buffalo,  but  it  will  enable  him  to 
arrive  at  his  destination  in  the  West  in  time  to  prepare  the 
ground  for  a  summer  crop,  and  thus  take  the  advantage  of  the 
first  season  at  his  new  home. 

Wc  may  justly,  therefore,  and  with  all  moderation,  base 
our  calculations  for  this  line,  on  its  completion,  and  the  com- 
pletion of  its  great  extension  in  Canada,  on  an  aggregate  traf- 
fic, equivalent  to  one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  through 
passengers,  of  the  first  class,  and  fifty  thousand  of  the  second 
class,  and  sixty  thousand  way  passengers,  at  the  low  rates 
named  in  thp  estimate.  If  only  two-thirds  the  number  estima- 
ted should  be  transported  over  the  road  on  its  completion, 
a  charge  of  three  cents  a  mile  for  through  passengers,  (which 
is  nearly  twenty-five  per  cent,  less  than  is  now  charged,) 
would  make  the  sum  I  have  estimated.  But  I  have  put  tho 
fare  lowy  to  avoid  competition,  and  induce  a  large  amount  of 
business.  • 

As  this  road  is  to  be  built  with  a  heavy  iron  track,  on  very 
light  grades,  gradually  descending  to  the  east,  and  is  allowed 
by  its  charter  to  carry  freight,  at  all  seasons  of  the  year, 
without  paying  tribute  or  tolls  to  the  State,  and  will,  when 
completed,  form  an  important  link  in  the  chain  of  uninterrupt- 
ed Railways  of  nine  hundred  miles  in  length — it  cannot  be 
doubted  for  a  moment,  that  it  must  always  command  a  large 
;ind  profit  abl(i  freighting  bussincst^.     The  completion  of  this 


t 


8 

kail-Iload  would  insuro  th(3  (Construction  of  an  iron  track  from 
lloch^  xr  to  Schcncctad.'i,  which  would  enable  the  Central 
line  of  Railways  to  compete  successfully  with  the  present 
Erie  Canal,  for  the  Western  transportation.  [See  appendix^ 
Note  2>.] 

The  completion  of  the  Railways  already  chartered,  and  in 
progress,  to  connect  the  Railways  of  Central  and  Western 
New  York  with  those  of  Pennsylvania,  will,  it  is  thought,  add 
largely  to  the  amount  of  freight  on  your  road.  Add  to  this 
the  large  amount  of  Western  produce,  that  would  seek  this 
route  to  an  Eastern  market,  and  the  merchandize  for  the  far 
West  and  Canada,  that  would  be  transported  over  it,  even 
during  the  suspension  of  Canal  and  Lake  navigation,  and  it 
would  seem  to  be  within  safe  bounds,  to  estimate  the  through 
freight,  at  not  less  than  an  average  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
tons  a  day  each  way,  (about  the  load  oi'four  Canal  Boats,)  or 
in  round  numbers,  at  one  hundred  thousand  tons  a  year,  and 
the  way  freight  at  twcnty-fivc  tons  annually.  [Sec  appendix, 
Note  E.] 

FINANCES. 

The  present  capital  of  the  company,  which  rep- 
resents the  amount  that  has  been  expended, 
on  the  part  that  is  now  in  operation  between 
Lockport  and  T^iagara  Falls,  is 

To  which  add  the  sum  necessary  to  supply  this 
line  with  an  edge  rail,  re-grade  parts  of  it,  and 
finish  it  in  the  best  style,  say  , 

Add  to  this  again,  the  estimated  cost  of  the  road 
from  Rochester  to  Lockport,  [Sec  estimate. 
Note  F.] 

And  we  obtain  for  the  total  investment  for  the 
completion  of  the  whole  line,  from  Niagara  to 
Rochester,  and  supplied  with  Depots  and  fur- 
niture, 
We  may  suy  in  round  numbers,  fourteen  hundred  thousand. 

dollars. 


$175,000 


175,000 


1,035,000 


$1,375,000 


I 


1 


i'.^' :■ 

A^-*;?? 


i'f-'i 


'y^tj^..-,- 


9 


from 
Jntral 
fesent 
|ndix< 

ndin 
stern 
add 
this 
this 
e  far 
even 
d  it 
ough 


PROBABLE  INCOME. 

In  estimating  the  revenue,  I  shall  assume  a  much  lower  rate 
of  charge  for  transportation  of  passengers  and  freight,  on  the 
substantial  road  which  it  will  be  for  your  interest  to  build, 
than  that  whicli  is  kow  adopted  on  the  existing  lines.  In  this 
country,  the  results  of  experience  abundantly  show,  that 
wherever  it  is  an  object  to  construct  a  Railway,  it  is  to  the 
last  degree  desirable  to  obtain  a  heavy  rail.  On  numerous 
roads  where  the  strap  or  light  bar  was  originally  laid,  it  has 
been  replaced  by  one  better  adapted  safely  to  permit  rapid 
traveling,  to  sustain  the  severe  shocks  incident  to  a  heavy 
trade,  and  to  admit  of  constant  and  economical  use ;  of  such, 
the  Columbia,  Newcastle  and  Frenchtown,  Baltimore  and 
Ohio,  and  others  might  be  referred  to  as  instances.  *'  It  is 
believed  that  with  a  flat  bar,  your  road  would  be  wholly  in- 
adequate to  the  travel  and  transport  which  it  ougl  it,  and  if  prop- 
erly coustructcd,  assuredly  would  conunand — IJiat  it  would 
be  unsafe  for  passengers,  (at  high  rates  of  speed,)  would  be 
subject  to  enormous  expense  for  repairs,  and  could  not  be  eco- 
nomically used  for  the  conveyance  of  tonnage — whereas,  with 
a  heavy  iron  rail,  it  would  be  competent  to  all  its  objects, 
could  be  worked  with  economy,  would  refjuire  but  a  moder- 
ate expense  for  repairs,  and  would  be  so  much  more  produc- 
tive and  valuable,  as  to  justify  tho  additional  expense  neces- 
sary to  purchase  an  edge  rail  of  not  less  than  eighty  tons  per 
mile.     [See  appendix.  Note  G.] 

Two  cents  a  mile  for  through  passengers,  or  a  charge  of 
one  dollar  and  ftfty  ceiits  from  Rochester  to  the  Falls,  (the  pres- 
ent rate  by  Rail  Roads,  v  ia.  Buffalo,  is  now  $3  ^5,)  and  two 
and  a  half  cents  a  mile  for  way  passengers,  is  believed  to  be 
ample  for  the  liberal  support  of  the  company,  if  we  have  not 
overestimated  the  number. 


B 


P./^V 


.^«dfc..r 


10 


U 


>  ESTIMATE. 

130,000  passengers,  (first  class  cars,)  $1  50, 
50,000  do.  (second  "     "   )  $1  00, 

60,000  way  passengers,  (half  way,)  SI  00, 
100,000  tons  -hrough  freight,  SI  00, 
25,000     "     way  do.        60  cts., 

7G  miles  U.  S.  mail  contract,  $150, 


S196,000 
50,000 
60,000 
100,000 
15,000 
It, 400 


Total  receipts,  $431,400 

Deduct  for  actual  expenses,  (exclusive  of  interest 
on  capital,)  opc-third  tlie  whole  receipts,  the  av- 
erage of  the  Eastern  Roads,  $143,800 

Nctt  receipts,  $287,600 

or  over  twenty  per  cent  on  the  whole  capital  of  fourteen 

HUNDRED  THOtJSAND  DOLLARS  ! 

That  the  estimate  of  one-third  will  be  ample  for  the  ex- 
penses of  your  road,  it  is  only  necessary  to  show,  that  the 
Utica  and  Schcnectada  Kail  'load,  seventy-eight  miles  in 
length,  transported  in  1844,  nearly  the  amount  of  freight  imd 
passengers  estimated  on  your  road,  (wliicli  were  about,  tlie  av- 
erage for  the  last  eiglit  years,)  at  an  expense  of  $132,838, 
which  is  less  than  the  amount  estimated. 

It  will  be  seen  that  these  roads  beingnearly  equcd  in  length, 
and  the  business  equal,  the  expenses  ought  to  be  likewise 
e(|u;il,  with  this  difierence  only,  that  the  Utica  and  Schcnecta- 
da Rail  Road  is  laid  witli  a  slight  strap,  or  flat  bar,  and  yours 
is  to  be  a  substantial  and  durable  iron  track,  which  will  m;dco 
a  difierence  of  at  least  Jifti/  per  cent,  in  the  coot  of  transpor- 
tation. 

But  as  it  is  my  intention  to  avoid  every  chance  of  over  es- 
timating, the  probable  results,  I  shall  take  the  estimate  of  one- 
t/i'ml  the  receipts  for  the  expenses  of  your  road,  and  in  my  es- 
timat:e  of  the  numbcn-  of  past^engers  I  have  assumed  for  your 
nnul,  (Vi  the  (H)tiipleti()U  of  il.s  connertiori,  witli  tliose  tlu'ough 
Pennsylvania,  Canada  West  and  M'chignn,  no  more  than  is 
nmv  carried  on  some  of  the  roads  west  of  Albany,  and  at  ha// 
i.lii-  prirc  charged  on  them. 


11 

As  there  may  be  doubts  in  the  minds  of  some  (although  1 
have  none,)  as  to  the  location  of  the  Canada  Rail  Road  at 
Niagara  Falls,  I  will,  to  salif-fy  thn  most  skeptical,  deduct  the 
100,000  tons  of  freight  ■  d  100,000  through  passengers,  that 
it  was  estimated  the  Cahrula  Road  would  create,  and  see  what 
would  be  the  probable  value  of  the  stock,  should  it*only  con- 
nect with  the  Buffalo  Rail  Road  at  Niagara  Falls,  and  the 
branch  Road  to  Lcwiston,  and  we  have  for  receipts,  as  follows: 
80,000  through  passengers,  SI  50,  $140,000 

00,000  way  do  $1  06,  60,000 

25,000  tons  way  freight,  GO  cts.,  15,000 

76  miles  U.  S.  Mail,  $1  50,  11,400 


Total  receipts. 
Deduct  onu-tliird  for  expenses. 


$226,400 
75,460 


Income,  $150,934 

or  ELEVEN  per  cent,  on  the  capital,  at  the  low  price  of  two 
cents  a  mile  for  through  passengers,  and  two  and  u  half  cents 
for  way  travel.  Call  this  two  and  a  half  cents  and  three 
cents,  and  on  the  amount  of  business  estimated,  it  would  net 
fifteen  per  cent,  stock,  and  this  too  without  any  travel  from  the 
Canada  Road,  and  without  l)uilding  the  Road  from  Lockport 
to  Fort  Erie,  which  Road  would  undoubtedly  be  made,  if  the 
Western  Rail  Road  should  by  any  possibility  be  located  there. 
This  route,  as  has  been  shown,  would  be  only  77  miles  from 
Fort  Eric  to  Rochester,  and  on  the  natural  inclined  plane,  to 
the  Hudson,  which  would  always  give  this  line  great  advan- 
,tage  in  competing  for  Western  trade  and  travel  with  the  Road 
via  Attica. 

In  view  of  all  these  facts,  I  think  no  imjjartial  or  ducrimi- 
imting  reader,  will  doubt,  that  this  road  will  be  (without  the 
Canada  connexion,)  a  secure  and  permanent  ten  iicr  cent  stock, 
and  with  that  connexion  a  fifteen  or  twenty  iier  cent  stock. 

The  result  in  either  of  these  cases,  may  appear  extravagant 
to  those  who  without  informing  themselves  of  the  reasons 
why  some  roads  pay  dividends  and  oth(^rs  do  not,  reason  and 
decide  only  from  wlial  they  hu.ppen  to  know  of  some  unfortu- 


12 


> ; 
'  li 


':   ti 


nate  work,  constructed  at  an  expense  largely  disproportioned 
to  its  objects,  located  where,  in  the  nature  of  things,  it  could 
command  but  a  meagre  amount  of  business,  defective  in 
strength,  or  other  qualities  requisite  to  economy  and  success 
in  using  it.  But  in  such  a  case  as  is  presented  by  this  Road, 
there  is  no  mode  of  estimate  or  calculation  on  such  a  route, 
located  on  the  great  thoroughfare  from  East  to  West,  and 
bordered  by  a  fertile  country,  and  dense  population,  that  will 
not  justify  all  that  need  be  claimed  or  presumed  for  it."  [See 
appendix,  Note  /.] 

The  connection  with  the  Canada  Railway,  at  Niagara,  will 
undoubtedly  be  made.  Its  practicability  is  demonstrable,  and 
when  completed,  it  will  offer  the  means  of  obtaining  the  most 
feasible  line  for  the  travel  of  tho  Northwestern  States,  to  and 
from  the  seaboard,  and  to  the  seat  of  our  National  Government. 
[See  appendix,  Note  J.] 

The  only  difficulty  that  could  possibly  be  urged,  that  arising 
from  the  width  and  depth  of  the  Niagara,  cannot  now  be  en- 
tertained. The  Bridge  is  practicable  ;  and  we  have  now  be- 
fore us,  the  estimate  and  report  of  an  experienced  Engineer, 
and  one  entirely  I'm  miliar  with  the  subje<it,  and  an  oiler  to 
build  the  work  for  the  sum  named  in  his  estimate,  ($220,000) 
and  submit  it,  on  its  completion,  to  a  severe  and  satisfactory 
test  of  its  strength.     (See  report.  Note  K.) 

The  ^^ right  (f  wtnj,"  usually  a  large  item  in  the  cost  of 
Rail  Roads,  when  made  through  a  fertile  and  po})ulous  coun- 
try, will  on  this  road,  be  unusually  small,  probably  not  ex- 
ceeding $500  per  mile.  Considerable  portions  of  the  several 
lines  surveyed,  have  already  been  released  without  charge, 
and  from  the  inierest  manifested  by  the  land-holders,  further 
gratuitous  cessions  are  anticipated. 

I  leave  for  a  future  examination  and  report,  the  question  of 
the  Batavia  terminus,  and  also  the  comparative  merits  of  the 
different  lines  surveyed  for  your  road,  l)etween  Lockport  and 
Rochester. 

Respectfully  submitling  those  views, 

J  have  till!  honor  to  be  your  obedient  servani, 

CHARLES  B  STUART,  C/nr/  Enginru. 


loned 
kuld 
in 
3cess 
[.oad, 
|oute, 
and 
will 
l[See 


I 


APPENDIX. 


(NOTE  A.) 

The  Rail  Road  from  the  Niagara  Falls  pas&es  east  to  Rochester  city,  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  far  famed  Ridge  Road  and  the  Erie  Canal,  near  the  centre 
of  the  eastern  portion  of  Niagara  County,  and  througli  the  centre  of  Orleans 
and  Monroe  Counties ;  varying  from  eight  to  twelve  miles  from  Lake  Ontario, 
and  about  the  same  distance  from  the  southern  lines  of  the  three  counties 
named,  drawing  to  its  lines  the  population  of  these  counties,  and  if  we  include 
Rochester,  it  embraces  a  population  of  not  less  than  one  hundred  and  thirty 
thousand.  The  Canal  and  Ridge  Road  from  Rochester  to  Lockport,  are  lit- 
erally studded  with  villages,  and  the  whole  country  is  densely  populated. 

(NOTE  B.) 

The  following  table  shewing  the  amount  of  travel  on  the  line  of  Rail  Roads 
hetween  Albany  and  Buffalo,  for  the  year  1844,  is  extracted  from  the  official 
returns  made  by  the  several  companies  to  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of 

New  York : 


Names  of  Rail  Road. 


Mohawk  &  Hudson,        .        -        - 

Utica  &  Schenectadu, 

Syracuse  &.  Utica, 

Auburn  &  Syracuse,    -        -        - 

Auburn  tSi-  Rochester,        ... 

Tonawandii  Rail  Road,  -        -        - 

Attica  &.  Builaio,        .        -        - 

Lockport  and  Niagara  Falls,  Lewistoa  to  BulFalo,  no  returns, 
1,0  many  thousands  annually. 


T]U!,ou(;ii  Passengeus. 

132,685 

-  101,215    - 

82,038 

-  80,638     - 
50,512 

-     52,062     - 
64,646 


Way. 

none. 
60,(i34 
39.708 

6.716 
70.857 
26,670 

9,303 

but  amount 


(NOTE  C.) 

The  Great  Western  Rail  Road  through  Canada  West,  if  it  terminate  at 
Niagara  Falls,  vill  be  a  most  important  element  in  the  |)assengor  business 
of  the  Niagara  P'alis  and  Lockport  Road,  (cwtcndod  to  Rochester)  as  well  ajj  to 
all  the  roads  east  of  that  city.  In  speaking  of  this  Canada  Rail  Road,  it 
should  be  under.>;tood  that  it  is  to  bo  built  in  the  most  substantial  and  durable 
manner  with  heavy  irtm  rails,  and  no  grades  over  twenty  feet  to  the  mile, 
and  almost  in  a  tangent  line  ;  so  that  its  rumiing  time  will  not  fall  short  of 
TJiiRxy  miles  an  hour;  making  the  time  re(inirecl  to  go  from  Detroit  to  the 
Falls  not  exceeding  eight  liours. 

At  Detroit,  this  Road  meets  the  Michigan  Central  Rail  Road,  which  ter- 
minates at  St.  Joseph's  on  Ijako  Michigan,  sii.vty  iniies  from  Chicago,  The 
di.stance  by  land,  from  St.  Joseph's  fo  Cliicago,  is  about  eiglity  miles  and  a 
charter  lias  Ixmmi  obtained  to  roii.'.tnicl  a  Hail  lload  dvcr  it — also  to  make  a 
Rail  Road  to  (Jaieiia,  and  ariothur  1o  St.  I.oiiis,  on  tlio  Mi:-.^i.-sipjii  River. 

But  Wti  will  take  the  traveling  indiiceuitnti.;  aj  they  will  be  without  those 


! ; 


|! 


I     I 

li 

I! 


■I 


Hail  Roads.  Tho  population  ol  Illinois  is  now  about  700,000,  Wisconsin 
350,000.  Iowa  300,000,  Upper  Missouri  300,000,  Micliigan  300,000,  tliat 
portion  of  Indiana  which  comes  to  Miciiigan  with  produce,  and  in  their  tran- 
sit to  the  Atlantic,  say  250,000  ;  makino'  in  all  2,200,000  of  inhabitants, 
whose  !)usineps  habits  and  piir.'-nits  naturally  lead  lliom  to  tlio  Atlantic.  At 
least  one-half  of  this  population  are  cmipranta  from  New  York  and  New 
England  wliere  thoy  have  left  thoir  relatives  behind  them,  and  whom  th(>y 
would  often  visit  if  they  could  avoid  the  long  and  dangerous  passage  of  the 
upper  Lakes. 

The  Rail  Road  through  Canada  West,  vvill  pass  through  the  most  settled 
part  of  that  Province,  and  draw  to  its  lines  a  poj)ulation  of  250,000. 

We  will  now  see  what  portion  of  this  population  whose  business  tends  to 
the  northern  Atlantic  cities,  would  be  likely  to  travel  on  the  Canada  Road. 
The  direction  of  Illinois,  Missouri,  Iowa  and  most  of  Wisconsin,  is  to  Chicago. 
From  that  point  to  St.  Joseph's  it  is  four  or  five  hours  eteam  boat  travel. 
This  would  be  their  natural  summer  route.  In  winter  they  would  travel 
round  the  head  of  tiio  Lake,  and  be  brought  on  the  Central  Rail  Road,  a  little 
cast  of  St.  Joseph's,  so  that  at  all  seasons  of  the  year  this  would  be  the  route, 
and  it  would  bring  them  directly  to  the  Canada  Kail  Road. 

If  a  portion  of  the  travelers  oast  from  Chicago  would  take  the  circuitous 
route  of  the  Lakes  760  miles,  instead  of  the  direct  route  of  2G0  miles,  they 
would  nevertheless  he  brought  to  tlie  same  point,  Detroit,  ready  to  take  the 
Canada  Road.  At  Detroit  then  nearly  the  whole  of  the  travel  eastwardly  is 
gathered.  Two  routes  are  oflered  during  the  season  of  navigation.  One 
tlirough  Lake  Erie,  where  a  Ikst  class  steainor  (with  no  gale  or  other  inipcdi- 
ment,)  will  arrive  at  Buffalo  in  tkbiij-six  hours;  but  in  agale--.  iieavy  head 
wind,  besides  the  danger  and  sickness,  detain  ihcm  furty-ciu;li/  linnra  more. 

The  other  is  to  take  the  cars  and  reach  Niagara  for  a  certainty  in  eight 
hours,  and  at  this  point  they  will  be  as  near  Uoston  or  New  ^'()rk  as  at  llutlalo, 
or,  in  other  words,  reach  either  of  tlioso  cities  by  the  time  the  Lake  passen- 
ger, if  he  has  good  luck,  will  be  in  Uuffiilo. 

Who  then  can  doubt,  that  when  this  roail  is  completed,  nearly  all  tiic  travel 
from  Detroit  east  will  pass  over  it  ?  As  to  the  number  that  will  pass  through 
Detroit,  we  arc,  so  far  as  relates  to  the  future,  left  .<omowliat  to  conj"cture. 
But  the  present  has  been  ascertainwl.  A  commiitee  apjuiinted  in  Detroit, 
alter  careful  investigation,  last  summer,  reported  that  the  number  of  travelers 
was  about  twenty  thousand  a  month.  Allow  only  six  months  for  the  traveling 
season,  and  the  number  would  be  onchuiKlrrdandlwen/.ijlhovsanil,  two-thirds 
of  which,  it  is  thought,  would  go  over  the  Canada  Road.  'J'iiis  niiiuber  only 
includes  the  arrivals  by  Steamboats,  and  does  not  take  into  the  account  those 
who  travel  by  Propellers  and  Sailing  vessels,  and  who  are  known  to  be  nu- 
merous. 

'J'huse  statements  give  some  idea  of  what  may  be  expected  on  the  road  from 
the  Falls  to  Rochester,  and  the  roads  east,  by  reason  of  the  construction  of 
the  Canada  Road.  Wlien  there  shall  be  an  Iron  track  from  Boston  to  St.  Jo- 
seph's, and  the  traveller  can  pass  over  it,  at  the  rate  of  thirty  miles  an  hour, 
ancf  at  two  cents  a  mile,  the  travel  will  be  more  than  doubled.  It  is  not  merely 
the  people  of  the  west  tliat  will  pass  on  these  roads,  hut  New  England  and 
New  York  are  constantly  penetrating  the  west  on  business  or  pleasure.  The 
traveler  from  New  York  to  New  ( )rleans,  will  iind  this  route,  as  multitudes 
already  do,  with  its  present  imperfections,  far  preferable  to  a  coast  passage  or 
a  stage  passage  through  Ceorgia  and  Alabama.  The  average  time  in  this 
direction  will  not,  when  completed,  exceed  ten  days.  The  coast  passage  is  on 
an  average  twenty-five  days — the  former  pleasant,  certain,  and  without  danger, 
the  latter  uncertain,  dangerous,  aiul  always  unpleasant. 

For  at  least  lialf  of  the  year  navigation  may  be  said  to  be  closed  on  the 
western  Lakes,  and  for  that  j)eriod  the  proposed  Rail  Road  would  be  without 
a  competitor,  by  lorminga  continuous  line  between  Boston  and  St.  JoBepli'e, 


an 
til 

111 


al 
fl 


J'sconsiii 
[00,  that 
jeir  tran- 

jabitants, 

tic.    At 

Mitl  New 

m    tJicy 

of  tJie 

It  sottlcd 

jcnil«  to 
(a  Jtoad, 
piiicago. 

travel. 

travel 
a  Jittle 

route, 


mi- 


nt iill  timoH  of  iho  year,  and  lor  this  reason  would  no  doubt  coni|»letely  clianjfe 
the  season  of  traveling  to  one  linintcrrupted  etrcani  from  one  year's  end  to 
the  other. 

(NOTE  n.) 

KxrEKiENGK,  both  in  this  country  and  in  Europe,  has  demonstrated  beyond 
all  doubt,  the  irrmf  supcrwri/i/  of  Rail  Roads,  when  compared  with  Canalsi 
lor  the  transportation  oi'  freii^lil.  and  jiassangcrs. 

However  bold  this  assertion  may  at  the  iirst  glance  appear  to  the  many, 
who  have  not  fully  examined  the  subject,  or  may  shock  the  prejudices  of  oth- 
ers, who  are  unwilling  to  admit  the  fad,  1  trust  that  little  need  be  said  at  thia 
day,  of  the  capabilities  and  general  utillity  of  well  constructed  Rail-Roads 
over  Canals,  to  convince  any  imprejudiced  mind,  that  Rail-Roads  must  of  ne- 
cessity'supersede  them  on  all  great  thoroughfares,  where  cheap  transporta- 
tion, celerity  of  motion,  and  certainty  of  arrival,  are  always  important ;  and 
in  event  of  competition  witli  rival  improvements,  absolutely  necessary  to  com- 
mand success. 

"  Instances  arc  too  fre(iuent,"  says  a  late  writer  upon  this  subject,  "  within 
tlie  last  few  years,  of  the  complete  triumph  of  Rail-Roads,  where  Canals 
have  been  as  complete  failures,  to  require  much  comment." 

I  am  well  aware  thac  the  success  of  the  Erie  Canal  has  induced  number- 
less eflbrts  of  the  kind,  and  awakened  an  almost  enthusiastic  zeal  in  favor  of 
thorn  throughout  the  country.  The  public  were  captivated  by  the  hrilliaivt 
rcstilts  of  this  gigantic  enterprise,  not  only  in  the  amount  of  tolls,  but  also  in 
the  universal  improvement  in  the  value  of  landed  property,  which  followed  its 
completion.  But  in  how  few,  very  few,  other  cases,  has  success  attended  the 
opening  of  Canals !  Jvveu  in  this  State,  many  of  the  Canals  which  have  been 
made  since  Iho  completion  of  the  Iirst  groat  work,  have  been  failures,  and 
are  now  supported  from  the  profits  ot  the  one  Iirst  completed. 

'J'lu>  groat  (Janal  from  the  Delaware  River  to  Chesapeake  Bay,  has  proved 
YUfprodiu'tive  stock,  and  the  Canal  through  the  Dismal  Swamp,  is  found  to 
produce  a  very  small  tlividend  in  tolls.  Of  the  Canals  made  by  the  State  of 
I'cimsylvania,  and  the  chartered  Companies  within  its  limits,  scarcely  one  in 
teu  art'  jiroiitiihle  stock',  and  its  citizens  are  turning  their  attention  to  Rail- 
Rdiid;:,  as  a  sulislilnle  for  them. 

The  Farmiiigton  (^anal  has  been  destroyed  by  the  Hartford  and  Hew  Haven 
Rail-lload,  luul  doomed  to  disappointment  the  buoyant  hopes  of  its  projectors, 
uotwitlistaudiiig  Clinton  had  said  that  it  would  be  to  New  Haven  what  the 
Erie  Canal  has  been  to  Albany,  it  is  now  abandoned,  and  tlie  project  is  rc- 
conuntMided  I'or  that  Com|)any  to  draw  off  its  ustless  waters,  and  lay  a  Rail- 
Road  upon  its  bottom,  in  order  to  turn  it  from  a  direct  tax  or  loss  to  a  certain 
|)r()lit. 

The  Camden  A:,  Amboy  Rail-Road  might  also  be  noticed  as  an  instance, 
where  a  readonly  .sixty  miles  in  leiigth,  with  grades  oH forty-five  feet  per 
mile,  and  costing  over  two  millions  ot  dolhirs,  has  paid  for  itself  \\\  seven  years, 
notwithstanding  one  of  the  finest  Canals  in  the  Union  runs  parallel  to  it,  in 
dimensions  the  same  as  the  "Erie  Enlargr.inent,''^  admitting  the  passage  of 
Steam  lloats  and  vessels,  which  Canal  has  languished  for  want  of  patronage, 
aving  paid  to  the  stockholders  only  one  per  cent  per  annum  ;  while  the  Rail- 
Road  iia>  paid  for  itstlf,  notwithstanding  it  is  obliged  to  pay  the  State  of  New 
Jersey  .*3U,0U0  yearly,  for  the  privilege  of  competing,  as  relates  to  produce 
and  iih'.rrlunidise,  with  this  Canal  of  ueei'  cut. 

The  Kail-Iload  from  IMiiladulphiii  to  New  York  carries  //o«r  at ///r;i/r/ cents 
per  barrel,  and  the  \V(v  lern  Rail-Rouil  chaiges  ouly  tuHutij-fire  cents  per  bar- 
rel, from  Alliauy  to  l^isloii — 201  miles.  The  Snpt^intendent  of  transporta- 
tior.  on  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Roil-Road,  in  his  report,  as  far  back  as  1834,  in 
speaking  of  ihu  Wcfcjteru  trade,  Kiy.j; — "This  (Jomjiuny  havu  now  the  benelit 


!l! 


in 


SI 


of  an  experience  derived  from  active  ond  uninterrupted  operations  for  a  period 
of  nearly  three  years,  on  a  line  of  sixty  miles  in  extent.  The  transportation 
that  they  have  effected  during  the  time  has  been  of  the  most  varied  and  gene- 
ral character,  embracing  commodities  of  the  most  cumbrous  and  ponderous 
description  known  in  commerce ;  among  them  may  ho  daily  remarked,  blocks  of 
i^ranife  wcigliing  several  tons  each,  loirs  of  timber  from  fifty  to  seventy  feet  in 
length,  machinery  of  the  most  unwieldy  forms,  considerable  numbers  of  live 
stoch\ — as  well  as  every  imaginable  variety  of  produce  and  merchandize ; — 
lhe;?e  may  frequently  all  be  seen  on  tiie  kail-Road,  collected  into  a  single 
train,  au(f  all  moving  with  equal  fiicility  and  dispatc!..  The  question  of  the 
adaptation,  therefore,  of  the  Rail-Road  system  to  the  purpose  of  a  general 
commerce,  may  certainly  by  the  proof  thus  afforded,  be  considered  as  settled.''' 

The  views  entertained  in  the  report  made  in  1834,  has  been  fully  realized 
as  it  appears  from  the  nineteenth  annual  report  of  the  J)irectors  of  the  Balti- 
more and  Ohio  Railroad,  that  during  the  pas<  yenr  the  gross  receipts  iot  freight 
and  passengers,  on  the  main  track  of  the  road,  were  $794,G() 4,67  from  which 
is  to  be  deducted  for  all  disbursements  $424,778,27,  and  there  remained  $369,^ 
201,42  as  the  net  receipts  for  the  year. 

The  cost  of  transporting  freight  upon  the  railroad,  does  not  ej(  ed  12icts. 
per  ton  per  mile,  at  a  velocity  of  ten  or  twelve  miles  an  hour,  ■  'ing  a  speed 
four  to  five  times  greater  than  is  attainable  upon  a  canal  where  boats  are  mo- 
ved by  animal  power.  The  tolls  for  merchandizj  upon  Ihe  Erie  Canal  amounts 
to  more  than  the  total  cost  of  transportation  upon  this  road. 

Virginia  caught  the  canal  mania  from  the  success  of  New  Yoak  with  the 
Eric  Canal,  and  has  expended  nearly  S$7,000,()00  on  the  James  River  Canal, 
and  !$1 2,000,000  on  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Canal  and  neither  of  these  works 
have  yielded  any  return  for  .so  large  an  outlay.  It  is  now  conceded,  that  a 
Central  Railroad,  through  Virginia,  will,  with  the  aid  of  the  Baltimore  &- Ohio 
Railroad,  siqiercede  both  these  Canal. 

In  fact,  Railroads,  not  only  answer  all  the  pur|)ost..  of  Canals  and  Lakes, 
but  they  have  the  decided  advantage  of  s^ivaI,  economy,  and  regularity,  and  of 
being  in  operation  during  a/Z  seasons  of  the  year. 

In  proof  of  these  remarks,  I  give  the  following  extract  from  the  report  and 
experience  of  J.  Edgar  Thompson,  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Georgia  Rail- 
road. 

"  I  can  now  state  with  confidence  that  wherever  the  transportation  is  of  a 
mixed  character,  such  as  agricultural  products,  general  merchandize,  and 
passengers ; — sutriciently  large  to  justify  the  construction  of  a  good  road ; — 
Railways  will  bo  found  to  be  not  only  the  most  expeditious,  but  the  cheapest 
artificial  medium  (f  conveyance  at  present  ftnoion." 

The  earnings  of  this  road  for  1845,  exceed  those  for  1844,  $40,026,76,  being 
an  increase  of  12^  per  cent.  The  number  of  bales  of  Cotton  transported  last 
year  was  114,641  bales. 

The  people  of  New  England,  with  their  usual  sagacity  have  arrived  at  this 
conclusion,  and  have  construcled  a  Rail-Road  from  Boston  to  illl)any,  at  an 
expense  of  not  less  than  eight  millions  of  dollars,  to  intercept  the  Creat  Wes- 
tern trade,  and  direct  it  from  its  natural  channel,  the  Hudson  River.  To  use 
the  language  of  Gen.  Dearborn,  "  Massachusetts  has  turned  her  eagle  gaze 
westward.  This  link,  (speaking  of  the  Western  Rail-Road)  in  the  lengthen- 
ed chain  of  intercommunication,  unites  the  pier-heads  of  Boston  harbor,  and 
the  port  of  St.  Louis— the  ocean  with  the  Mississippi." 

"  Canals  are  not  adapted  to  latitudes  wliere  thi'y  can  l)o  used  from  six  to 
seven  months  in  the  year,  and  from  the  past  experience  of  Massachusetts,  she 
is  not  satisfied  with  the  Canal  system,  especially  since  the  late  improvements 
in  the  Locomotive  Engine,  and  the  introduction  of  the  <dge  rails,  in  the  place 
oi  the  Jlat  bar,  permits  the  transit  of  all  kinds  of  lreigl$  at  cheap  rates,  with 
speed  and  certainty  at  all  seasons  of  the  year. 

In  an  able  report  of  E.  J.  Johnson  Esq.,  Civil  Engineer,  on  the  uaeful  and 


) 


* 


k 


. 
I 

! 


,* 

» s 


I)iroHtal)Io  adaptation  ofwoll  constrnctcd  railway?,  to  the  convcvancps  of  vari- 
ous descriptions  of //v/^r/i^,  Bubmittcd  to  the  Legislature  of  this  State  in  1838, 
he  says,  "the  superiority  wliioh  Rail-Roads  possoBsas  a  medium  for  the  tran- 
BJt  of  F'  isscnpers,  gives  tliem  great  advantage  in  the  transportation  oifiright. 
Upci  a  road  doing  a  large  passenger  business  sufficient  to  maintain  itself,  and 
pay  the  interest  on  its  cost,  freight  may  be  carried,  if  necessary,  in  the  event 
of  competition,  at  an  expense,  without  loss,  not  exceeding  the  actual  cost  of 
transportation-  independent  ol  profit,  oj  toll ;  or,  if  the  conclusions  above  stated 
are  correct,  at  a  total  cost,  to  the  merchant  or  farmer,  not  exceeding  one  and 
one  third  cents  per  ton  per  mile.  This  is  an  important  view  of  the  subject,  and 
will  have  a  great  bearing  upon  the  future  success  of  the  Rail-Road." 

The  additional  expense  of  accommodating  an  increased  amount  of  business 
upon  a  Rail-Road,  is  confined  principally  to  the  transportation  department,  and 
not  to  the  maintainance  of  way,  the  durability  of  which  is  effected,  mainly  by 
exposure  to  frost,  floods,  and  natural  decay,  rather  than  by  the  severity  of  the 
service  to  which  it  may  be  subjected. 

The  present  rates  of  transportation  between  Buffalo  and  Albany,  (including 
tolls)  is  not  less  than  nine  dollars  per  ton,  or  *?></,  centsfor  a  barrel  of  flour, 
and  last  fall  the  forwarders  have  rrcj'VHl  ;;.■;  Inch  as  one  hundred  and  eigh- 
teen cents  per  barrel  for  i!our  to  Al'iany  from  PnjValo,  while  the  highest  price 
charged  on  the  Western  Rail-Road  from  Albany  \n  lin^;  )n,  has  been  thirty-three 
cents  per  barrel.  This  shows  the  great  want  ofnn  i,m  Rail-Road,  on  the  ^/i- 
rect  route  from  the  Niagara  to  the  Hudson  • '  ->  act  as  a  Tc<rntalor.  The  farmers 
of  western  New- York  would  havesavo;'  '^  ■■•  ;ind  dollars,  the  last  season, 

if  such  a  road  had  been  in  operation,  and  .0  .vod  to  carry  freight.    The 

time  occupied  by  a  canal  boat,  from  Buffi  li  ..  Albany,  is  not  less  than  six  days 
of  twenty-four  hours  each,  without  including  tlio  tinu;  consumed  in  loading  and 
unloading  the  freight,  and  will  carry  on  an  average  not  more  than  sixty  tons. — 
Nowa  Locomotive  of  fifteen  tons,  with  six  drivers,  could  transport  with  ease,  on 
an  edge  rail  of  suitable  dimensions,  on  the  descending  grades  of  the  direct  route, 
along  the  Erie  Canal,  two  hundred  tons  of  freight,  at  the  rate  of  ten  miles  au 
hour,  or  thirty  hours  for  thowholc  distance  of  throe  hundred  miles  from  thn 
Niagara  to  the  Hudson  River,  including  the  necessary  delays  for  fuel  and  wa- 
ter. The  actual  cost  of  making  this  trip  would  770/  exceed  one  dollar  per  mile, 
or  three  hundred  doll.'trs  for  the  whole  distance,  includinji'  fuel,  oil,  wages  of  men, 
wear  and  tear  of  Locomotives  and  cars;  being  only  1  dol/iir  and  a  half  per  ton  for 
the  whole  distance,  add  to  this  one  hundred  per  cent  lor  interest  on  cost  of 
road,  and  then  again  another  hundred  per  cent,  for  prolits,  and  the  aggregate 
will  only  be  /()«;•  dollars  and  ;^/A?/ C(;m/.?  per  ton  for  the  whole  distaiu-e,  or /«?7y 
fne  cents  a  barrel  for  flour.  This  estimate  is  not  Iii^ii,  lor  it  will  bo  as  easy 
for  a  Locomotive  of  fifteen  tons  to  draw  two  hundred  tons  to  the  Hudson,  hav- 
ing no  grades  over  twenty  foot  in  a  mile,  as  it  is  now  to  draw  a  train  of  eighty 
tons  (which  they  do  daily)  over  the  shcrt  curves  and  eight y-fourfcrt  grades  of 
the  Western  Rail-Road. 

"  There  was  received  in  this  city  from  Albany,"  says  the  Boston  Daily  Ad- 
vertiser of  25th  Nov.  1846,  "by  the  Western  Rail-Road,  in  the  week  ending, 
the  15th  inst.  1.3,174  barrels  of  flour.  Li  the  week  ending  on  Saturday  last, 
the  quantity  received  was  ]  5,426  barrels,  and  the  three  first  days  of  tln'  present 
week,  10,846  barrels,  making  in  tico  and  a  half  vrelis,  37,455.  In  the  last, 
three  days,  the  freight  trains  have  contained  an  average  of  more  than  one 
thousand  l)arrel.s,  in  addition  to  large  quantities  of  other  freight.  About  3000 
barrels  of  flour  in  addition  to  the  above,  were  received  at  the  depot  in  this 
city  yesterday." 

But  if  one  hundred  and  fifty  tons  only  is  carried,  still  the  cost  of  transpor- 
tation will  be  only  lino  crntfi  a  ton  per  mile,  which  is  about  equal  to  the  up  tolls 
alone  on  the  Erie  (/an«l.  The  Pottsvillo  Rail  Road  is  now  carrying  coal  at 
less  than  one  cent  a  ton  per  mile,  and  lias  conveyed  the  last  year  over om*  mil' 
lion  of  tons  to  Philadelphia.     Experience  in  this  country  has  shown  that  it 


i'i 


w 


!  I  ' 


costs  from  sixty  to  eiglity  (;entH  a  milo  on  cdjrc  rails,  to  rim/iiU  trains,  uiut  I 
liave  estimated  one  dnUar  per  mile.  Hut  I  will  not  Rtop  to  compare  liirtlier 
tlie  cost  of  Kail  Road  and  Canal  transportation.  The  contrast  in  I'livor  ot" 
Rail  Roads  is  very  j,'roat,  as  will  iiu  oiivioiis  trom  what  has  licen  ulrondy 
shown,  and  cannot  admit  ot  a  donht  when  once  I'nlly  examined,  and  candidly 
considered. 

It  is  well  known  that  oar  success  with  the  Krio  ('anal  served  to  stimulate 
Eastern  enterprise.  Tiiey  were  determined  to  share  with  New  York,  the 
great  Western  trade.  Jn  view  of  this  ohjcct,  they  proposed  a  Canal  to  con- 
nect Boston  with  Lakes  Champlain  and  (hitario,  Itut  were;  6a;j;acious  cnoujfll 
to  abandon  it.  The  triumphant  success  of  the  Liverpool  &.  Manchester  Rail- 
Way,  in  transportinjr  laryo  burthens  of  merchandise,  produ(;e,  live  stock,  iVc. 
&.C. — turned  their  attention  to  this  '•  better  improvement  of  the  day," — and 
for  the  last  ten  years,  as  has  been  seen,  the  Capitol  of  New  England  lias 
been  directed,  with  iirojit,  to  Railways  diverjriny  from  Boston. 

Since  the  introduction  of  the  "  Rail-Road  system,"  anew  era  has  diiwncd 
on  that('ity,  and  her  far-seeing  citizens  became  convinced,  that  althoui^di  sliu 
had  no  rivers  like  the  Hudson,  the  Delaware,  or  the  Susiiuchanuah,  to  hrin;;' 
to  lier  wharves  the  jjroducts  of  the  boundless  and  fertile  West,  yet  that  an 
"Iron  palhiL'atf  might  be  laid  along  her  mountain  gorges, over  which  a  Steam 
Engine,  with  a  train  of  cars,  could  move  at  the  rate  of  ten,  twenty,  or  thirty 
miles  an  hour,  taking  the  produce  of  the  Lakes  at  the  outlet  of  Ihc  Krie  Ca- 
nal, and  landing  it  at  Boston  in  less  time  than  it  can  be  delivered  in  New  York 
by  the  Hudson  River. 

To  illustrate  inore  fully  the  high  estimation  in  which  the  "Jiail-liDird si/t- 
tem'"  is  held  by  the  great  mass  oJ  the  people  Ihroughout  the  United  Slates, 
and  more  particularly  in  the  New  Kiigianil  Slates,  we  need  only  to  show  thi; 
innncnse  number  of  Ra  Roads  that  li;Lve  been  cims/rniiiul  within  the  last  ///- 
teen  years,  and  wli'ch  have  paid,  on  the  average,  more  than  scicn  jut  cent, 
upon  their  cost,  after  deducting  all  expenses  of  repairs,  nuiowals,  manage- 
ment, <S:c.  &.C. 

Jn  the  New  Mngland  Slate-;  alone,  there  are  iKnr  in  operation  turiily-six 
Rail-Roads,  with  an  aggregate  lini;;tii  of  '/y^/;/  liuiiiira!  (tiul'  ><:nii/i/-liit:  miles, 
costing  thiri'i-one  mill ions,  tlnrc  hinidrctl  (ind  sircntij-srvm  thuusmnl  dollars  ;  of 
which  sum  /ite)ili/-fivc  >n.illions,  nnr  hnndr< d  and  tliirly-scceu  thoiisiuul  iloUats 
has  been  expciideil  in  Miissacliiisetts  alone. 

Tiiere  are  in  the  Stale  ol'  New  York,  /wcnlij-one  Rail-Roads  constructed, 
measuring  in  all  sen  n  hundred  miles,  ut  a  cost  of  nincleeii  initlio}is,  one  hun- 
dred and  sirli/  ih'iiisund  duUnrs ;  .vhile  there  are  in  the  remaining  Sttites  of  the 
(JnioM,  ftirdi-finir  Rail-lluads  in  iir  e,  making  in  all  heo  thntisand,  Jirc  Innidml 
and  tiflij-nine  niiUs,  and  cu.sting  iKe  sum  oi  si,<'lij-lh.ree  niillimis,  fonr  hundred 
ihnnsiind  dollars;  making  in  tlie  total  aggregate  ninety-one  Itail-ltoads,  three. 
Ihonsiuni,  one  hundred  anil  thirty-four  'miles  in  length,  and  cosling  the  enor- 
mous Sinn  of  line  hunilred  nail  thirl"rn  'millions,  nine,  hundred  and  fhirli/serrn 
thousand  dollnrs.  'J'hcsi!  Kail-Uoails,  as  before  stated,  mi  not  less  than  seien 
per  cent  on  the  (ircni'^e,  which  would  give  an  annual  income  of  nearly  liiuux 

MILiaONS    Ol'    DOLl.AltS, 

The  total  length  of  all  the  linos  non'  ehartered,  in  part  constructed, and  soon 
to  be  completed,  will  not  bo  less  ihim  tn-o  I honsaml  miles  in  addition  to  the 
above,  to  which  we  may  add  the  roads  chartered  but  not  yet  connnenced,  but 
which  undoubtedly  will  he  within  the  next  live  years,  aniouutiiig  to  not  less 
than  one  ihonsand  miles  in  length,  and  we  have  an  aggregate  in  the  year 
1850  of  over  six  thousami  miles  of  Rail-Roads  in  the  United  States,  at  a  cost 
of  not  less  than  two  hnndred  /nlUions  of  (hjliars. 

Let  this  be  compared  with  the  amount  expended  in  the  construction  of  Ca- 
nals, during  the  last  iilteeii  years,  ('ind  which  with  tne  exception  of  the  Erie* 
Canal,  h.ivc  not  paiil  an  avfiavv  of  'ou:  per  ei  nt.  on  their  i  ost)  and  the  rer.nll 
will  clearly  Jiow.  tliat  the  "Canal  Syylcnj"  ij  behind  the  spirit  of  the  ant; . 


tlier 
»r  of 
•iidy 
lidly 

I  Into 

the 

con- 

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Tn  Ennrland  llioy  HIP  Inrninp  ihoir  Canals  into  Rnilwnys;  and  fiic  Lnndoiv 
TiniCK  lor  Novcnilior,  1815.  contains  n  coniplr'tP  list  nl  ail  tlio  Railways  con- 
ptrnctcd,  cliartorod,  luul  projected,  in  (Jreat  Jlritain,  nptn  tlioda*^  of  publica- 
tion :  i'rom  which  it  ap|)oar.s  that  ih(»  nnnibrr  romplctcd  and  in  vs  is  forty-se- 
ven, costinjj X7(i.(iH().W77,  or  aliout  /hret:  hinidnil itnd Jifhj-thnr  m'u  'ions  oj  dol- 
lars,— the  niimhor  in  the  conrso  of  construction  is  one,  kumlrcd and ciifhlccn,  or 
nbout  lira  thousand  (Did  niv  Itvndrrd  ?iii!rs,  which  are  estimated  to  cost  JCG7,- 
359,;}25,  or  nearly  niir  Iniiidrcd  and  ii'nivltj-liro  miUl'Dis  of  dollars.  Tiio  num- 
ber projected  in  addition  to  the  lore^oint:,  i.-;  1,2C3  ! — of  whicli  218  have  jjiiid 
a  deposite  of  over  5  percent,  amountiu",' to  £11,171,717;  and  to  comply  with 
tlie  resolutions  of  the  House  of  Lords,  must  pay  a  further  amount  of  jb9,694,- 
4G-1 ;  and  on  402  lines  a  deposit  of  10  per  cent  is  recpiirod  and  much  of  it  is 
paid,  and  which  if  all  paid,  will  amount  to  Jt)38,3GG.109 — making  upon  these 
G20  lines,  an  actual  drposi/,  before  they  can  ho  acted  upon  in  Parliament,  of 
X69,13G,30(),  or  iihout  two  hundred  and  niwli/- five  millions  of  dollars  ! ! 

The  rcmainimr  projects,  643  in  number,  have  not  registered  their  prospec- 
tuses, and  have  not  tliorefore  paid  up  the  10  per  cent,  on  their  estimated  cap- 
ital. The  total  number  math',  chartered  and  jirojccled,  is  07ie  thousand,  one  hxin- 
dred  and  luKnly-ciifhl ;  and  if,  of  the  average  length  ol'  tlioso  made  and  ma- 
king, e(jual  those  already  made,  viz  :  twr.nlij-ei<^hl  miles  each,  will  give  thirty' 
nine  iknusand,  nine  hundred  ami  eighty-four  miles  of  llail-Roads  in  (ireat  Brit- 
ain. '•  Rut  of  this  amount,"  says  the  Editor  of  the  American  llail-lload  Jour- 
nal ;  "  probably  not  more  than  one-half  will  be  constructed  within  the  next 
fifteen  years,  or  about  liiOO  inilos,  at  a  co&t  of  about  £18,000,000  a  year,and 
who  will  say  that  this  cannot  be  done,  if  done  in  a  regular  business  way,  with- 
out interfering  at  all  with  the  other  business  operations  of  that  country?" 

"  The  importance  of  the  Railway  system,"  has  brought  numerous  compet- 
itors into  the  field,  and  there  arc  at  this  time  many  able  minds  engaged  upon 
it;  and  from  the  advances  already  mnclo,  and  the  energy  with  wliicli  the  in- 
vestigations are  prosecuted,  we  arc?  led  to  believe  that  at  no  distant  day,  it 
will  assume  a  very  dillerent  ])osition  in  the  estimaticm  even  of  those  able  and 
independent  mhids  which  make  it  a  rule  to  admit  nothing  in  the  way  of  im- 
jirovement  until  it  is  fully  established  hy  experience. 

I  am  well  aware  that  the  views  here  taken  will  startle  many,  and  that  the 
facts  I  liave  set  forth,  can  scarcely  be  believed  by  others,  wlio  liave  not  given 
the  subject  the  examination  its  import.ance  would  seem  to  demand.  I  know 
that  "  until  within  a  very  few  years,  Rad  Roads  have  been  considered  as  only 
Hupplementary  to  Canals,  to  be  emphwcd  in  short  distances,  or  where  the  na- 
ture of  the  ground  i)recluded  the  ajjplication  of  inland  navigation.  Accord- 
ingly while  the  attention  of  some  of  the  most  enterprising  and  highly  gifted 
nundrf  were  turned  to  the  considcratiori  of  inland  water  comnnniications,  the 
bettor  adaptation  of  Rail  Roads  was  overlooked  and  neglected.  This  country 
is  now  traversed  by  Canals  intersecting  each  other;  which  affords  inland  navi- 
gation between  many  parts  of  this  State  and  Union,  for  only  half  or  two-thirds 
of  the  year.  There  can  be  no  doubt  now^  that  many  of  these  Canals  have 
been  constructed  where  Rail  Uoads  would  have  answered  a  hotter  purpose, 
and  could  have  been  completed  at  less  than  half  their  cost.  However  well 
they  may  have  answered  the  purpose  for  which  they  were  originally  designed, 
the  "spirit  of  the  age"  indicates  that  the  ''  Canal  synlem''  has  been  already 
extended  as  far  as  the  wants  of  the  community  reipiiro.  It  is  not  probable 
that  another  Canal  of  any  magnitude  will  e\  er  be  midertaken  unless  it  is  the 
enlargement  of  the  Erie  Canal,  Cwhich  is  on  tlie  great  thoroughfare  from.. 
West  to  East,  and  may  sustain  itself  when  .s7(Y/?/i  Inos  are  used,  in  place  of 
animal  |)ower,)  and  th':;  Ship  Canal  around  Niagara  Falls. 

1  will  close  this  note  with  the  following  description  of  the  advantages  of  a. 
Rail  Road,  when  compnred  ev(;n  with  ii  navigaJilc  River,  for  transportatiou 
and  travel,  taken  from  the  report  of  a  "Joint  Couunittee  of  the  Legislature 
of  Massachusetts,"  made  in  1840  : 


BiilH 


■til 
fi 


"  KailwnyH  iinivorsiilly  liiiv(f  creatod  tho  inciinH  of  Ihoir  own  siisteiiiiiice, 
and  have  drawn  to  tlioir  tracks  I'inployinont  lor  their  niotivo.  It  the  Ix-niti- 
cenco  of  Providence  had  hollowed  a  channel  from  owr  coast  to  tlio  Western 
Lakes,  and  poured  the  Hoods  of  tiioso  inltind  seas  eastward  to  the  ocean,  the 
Iilessinjfs  would  have  hecn  tO(»  <>reat  for  siitlicient  j,'riititn(|t',  as  they  would 
havii  been  beyond  all  coinputation.  The  river  swelleil  hy  tributary  streams 
Irom  every  valley  would  Jiave  scattered  wealth  alonjj  its  course.  For  all 
practical  purposes,  the  invention  of  art  bestows  lirtlrr  advanldixcn,  and  fur- 
nishes communication  more  t'rt.sy  and  certain  than  the  bounty  of  nature  could 
give.  Durin<r  the  stern  winter  of  our  climate,  the  rivers  are  closed  for  a 
ilUrd  of  the  year  with  ice ;  in  summer  they  are  exhausted  for  a  nearly  erjual 
period,  and  their  navigation  is  bounded  by  the  hills  that  supply  their  fountains. 
The  Railway  is  neither  loc.ked  by  cold,  nor  dried  up  by  heat,  nor  confined  by 
ridjfes.  Stretchini;  out  its  arms  to  every  town  and  village,  it  may  be  extended 
beyond  the  highland  barriers  of  water  passage,  and  beyond  the  lakes,  until 
its  iron  bands  clasp  together  in  a  net  work  of  improvement,  overspreading  the 
whole  Union." 

(NOTE  E) 

It  is  a  well  known  fact  among  all  conversant  with  the  subject,  that  Western 
produce,  whenever  practlc  ible,  seeks  Northern  or  Eastern  climates  for  a  mar- 
ket. Flour  is  worth  more  on  an  average  by  one  dollar  a  barrel  in  New  York 
than  in  New  Orleans.  The  diflbrence  in  the  value  of  corn  is  nearly  double ; 
pork,  ham,  butter  and  cheese  vary  in  the  two  markets  nearly  as  much  as  Hour, 
and  often  much  more.  On  the  other  hand,  merchandise,  with  the  exception 
of  a  few  articles,  comes  from  Northei  i»  climates  in  a  much  better  condition 
than  Southern.  The  channel  for  returning  merchandise,  it  being  less  in  bulk, 
will  almost  invariably  be  the  same  as  that  in  which  the  products  of  the  West 
are  carried  to  the  East  or  North. 

fiCt  lis  see  what  facilities  will  be  afforded  the  Northwestern  States  to  bring 
their  products  in  this  direction  and  over  the  Rail  Roads  from  Detroit  to  Roch- 
ester. 

The  Central  Rail  Road  of  Michigan,  runs  through  the  center  of  that  State 
to  Lake  Michigan,  and  is  already  the  transit  for  the  majority  of  their  products 
and  merchandise.  Wisconsin  lies  on  the  west  of  Michigan  lAke,  and  must 
take  either  the  interior  connnunication  by  Rail  Road,  or  pass  Detroit  through 
that  River. 

A  Canal  is  nearly  completed,  and  will  be  navigable  in  one  year,  connecting 
Illinois  River  with  Lake  Michigan  at  Chicago.  From  the  intersection  of 
this  Canal  the  Illinois  is  navigable  for  largif  steamboats  to  the  Mississippi 
River  and  the  Canal  and  River  will  lake  in  their  sweep,  almost  the  entire  busi- 
ness of  Illinois,  and  connect  with  the  Mississippi  at  a  |)oint  most  convenient 
for  the  trade  of  Iowa.  It  is  nearly  certain  to  command  the  principal  business 
of  St.  Louis  and  tho  entire  Up[)er  Mississippi. 

IJut  this  is  only  a  limited  view.  There  is  scarce  a  doubt  that  a  Railway 
already  chartered,  from  St.  .loseph,  (the  terminus  of  tho  Central  Railway,) 
to  the  Mississippi  at  St.  liouis,  will  in  tiio  course  of  a.  few  years  be  comple- 
ted, and  another  from  Chicago  to  Galena.  The  Rtiil  Road  across  Michigan 
is  now  of  wood  and  strap  iron  structure.  Thus  it  is  with  the  Rail  Roads  in 
New  Vork  from  Schenectada  west  to  Lake  Erie.  Already  tho  companies 
east  of  Syracuse  are  making  an  effectual  movement  to  replace  their  frail 
structures,  with  a  heavy  edge  rail.  The  Rail  Road  from  Rochester  to  the 
Falls  is  also  to  be  laid  with  a  heavy  iron  rail,  and  the  Road  from  Rochester 
to  Syracuse  must  be  built  in  the  same  manner,  if  the  central  line  of  Rail 
Roads  expect  to  compete  sue  '(s.-lully  either  with  the  Erie  Canal  or  the  New 
York  &.  Krie  Road  for  we.siern  travel  or  trans)K)rtation.  An  application  is 
iioticcid  (or  a  charter  to  construct  a  Rail  Road  ilirrrt  ircm  Rochester  to  Syra- 


r  I- 


J) 

CU80,  via  tho  Canal  routo,  by  which  Bomo  thirty  miles  would  bo  saved  in  diH- 
tanco,  and  lii(]rii  ^rrades  and  elovatinns  avoided,  ns  no  dcsconchni;  gradoH  would 
he  encountered,  of  over  twenty  foet  to  the  mile,  cm  this  lovel  ronfff.  Tho 
distance  by  this  ronto,  from  the  Niajinra  to  the  Hudson,  just  three  hundred 
miles,  and  to  X'cw  York  four  hiindrod  iiiid  liltv  miles,  lieiny  limihj  iniks  liss 
than  from  Dunkirk  to  New  York,  by  the  N.  Y.  &.  K.  Kail  Road.  The  eust- 
orn  capitalists,  1  am  informed,  have  ollerod  to  purchase  the  Central  Rail 
Road  in  Mlchi},'an,  and  lay  down  an  edi.fe  mil,  and  the  State  must  sell  if  it 
obeys  tho  public,  voice.  'Hiis  would  secure  an  iron  wad  from  Lake  Michi- 
gan to  Hoston. 

Tho  directors  of  tho  Great  Western  Rail  Road,  in  their  report  of  August 
C,  1845,  say  that,  "  tho  great  and  increasing  trade  of  the  Western  country, 
with  the  seaboard,  renders  it  a  mattei  of  the  highest  importance,  nay,  even  of 
necessity,  to  establish  a  rapid,  short,  and  uninterrupted  communication  be- 
tween the  two  by  Rail  Road;  and  by  an  examinatiim  of  tho  map,  it  will  be 
seen,  the  route  of  the  Great  Western  Rail  Road  (in  (.'anada  West)  possesses 
advantages  8U|)erior  to  that  of  any  other  lor  this  purpose,  from  the  fact  that 
no  other  road  to  the  northward  of  it  can  be  made,  uidess  it  shall  meet  tho 
interruption  of  water  connnunication,  which  is  closed  for  so  large  a  portion 
of  the  year ;  neither  can  any  road  be  made  to  tho  southward  of  it,  without 
winding  roxind  the  south  shore  of  Jiake  Erie,  and  increasing  the  distance  by 
at  least  one  hundred  and  twenlji-Jive  miles.  The  business  from  the  West  is 
now  carried  on  through  I-ake  Erie,  and  gives  employment  to  a  vast  quantity 
of  shipping ;  but  the  navigation  of  tho  liako  is  circuitous  and  dangerous, 
and  for  six  months  in  the  year  rendered  unavailable,  from  the  harbors  being 
frozen  up,  and  the  generally  tempestuous  and  inclement  state  of  the  weather 
during  tne  winter  season." 

From  the  report  of  the  board  of  internal  improvements  to  the  liCgislature 
of  the  State  of  Michigan,  in  DeciMnber,  1841,  it  appears  "that  the  number  of 
passengers  on  the  Central  Rail  Road  of  Michigan  increased  from  26,000  in 
1841  to  62,000  in  1844,  and  that  the  yearly  receipts  for  freight  from  1841  to 
1844,  on  the  same  road,  increased  from  .^48,000  to  $138,000!  The  freight 
on  the  agriculture  proper  to  the  State  of  Michigan,  increased  during  tho 
same  period,  from  ,i^33,00U  to  i!j9a,000  per  annum  ;  and  as  these  are  the 
products  of  a  State  yet  in  its  iniancy,  it  would  not  be  unrcasonablo  to  antici- 
|)ate  a  very  large  yearly  augmentation,  as  the  State  becomes  more  thickly 
.settled,  and  her  resources  more  fully  developed." 

This  Rail  Road  when  in  operation  only  to  Marshall  did  this  amount  of 
business,  and  yielded  cii^ht  jier  cent,  on  the  investment.  The  length  was 
one  hundred  and  ten  miles.  It  is  now  completed  as  far  west  as  Kalamazoo, 
on(^  hundred  and  forty-si.\  miles  Irom  Detroit,  leaving  only  litty-four  miles  to 
extend  it  to  St.  Joseph.  The  extraordinary  mineral  wealth  of  the  northern 
part  of  Michigan,  and  territories  adjacent,  which  has  been  but  recently  dis- 
covered, is  producing  a  great  influx  of  population  in  tliat  part  of  the  State, 
the  natural  eflect  of  which  must  bo  to  increase  the  busiues.s  on  thi.s  great 
thororghfare," 

The  late  Report  of  a  Committee  in  Elmira,  N.  Y.,  on  the  subject  of  the 
connection  of  tho  Rail  Roads  of  Pennsylvania  with  those  of  Central  and 
Western  New  Fork,  states,  that"  the  project  of  connecting  the  public  works 
of  New  York  with  those  of  Pennsylvania,  by  means  of  a  Rail  Road  from  El- 
mira to  Williamsport,  has  long  occupied  the  attention  of  business  men  in 
both  states.  The  formation  of  the  country,  presenting  a  valley  of  but  very 
little  acclivity  from  the  heart  of  Western  New  York,  to  tho  centre  of  the  coal 
and  iron  regions  of  Pennsylvania,  is  a  circumstance  so  rare,  occuring  as  it 
does  in  an  otherwise  rough  and  mountanoous  country,  as  to  force  upon  the 
traveler  its  peculiar  appropriateness  for  the  formation  of  a  connecting  link 
between  the  commerce  and  tradi;  of  these  great  and  growing  States.  Char- 
ters have  been  obtained  from  Williamsport  in  Penn.  to  the  Seneca  Lake  of 


10 


New  York,  tho  rnutOR  piirvryod  und  tlio  firrt  iwnlij-fur  tnilofl  lidvr  Iipcn  ron- 
Htnictcd  and  iiro  in  iirp,  cxtciidinfj  I'mtn  Williaitispdrl  fo  ItdllHtoii  on  tlip  lijr- 
coinin^  Crock.  Sixty  niilfs  rpiiiiiinrt  to  he  done  to  Seneca  liakc,  and  tlinn 
connect  witii  flie  cimiils  and  Ikiiil  llmid^  of  Wt'slorn  mid  (Central  Xow  York. 
The  l)L'Ht  (luaiily  ol'  antlirnciti;  c();i,l  is  nnw  Heiliii;,'  at.  WillianiHiidrt  fi)r  Iwu 
dollars  per  ton.  The  cost  of  transiKirtation  l>y  Rail  IlnudH  :md  Lake,  to 
Rdcliestcr,  will  not  exceed  lift)  dnjlar.-;  a  fun,  and  one  «!oIlar  addilioiial  to  Ni- 
agara Uiver,  niakinj,' the  totiil  cost  y/iv;  diilhirs  only  per  ton  at  iMan;ara.  It  i.s 
known  that  then;  is  no  aniliracitu  coal  in  either  ol  the  Canadas  ;  and  when 
it  \a  considered  that  this  article,  and  also  iron,  aro  allowed  to  enter  the  Urit- 
irth  I'rovinccH  duly  iVee,  it  must  he  apparent  to  all  thiit  a  market  will  he 
opened  there  lor  these  «rticle«  when  they  can  ho  rurnished  tit  nncii  low  rat«H, 
where  nearly  as  much  ol'  them  can  h(J  disposed  of  as  in  VVoslerii  New  York. 
There  ia  no  superior  iron  ore  to  thai  of  Ualiston,  in  Pennnylvania." 


(NOTE  F.) 


1st. 


Ef<timato  frouA  Niajjara  to  Lockpor^. 

20  miles  of  superstructure  and  I'ldge  Rail, 
20    "      "  re-grading  in  places,  Bay 

Total, 
2d.     From  liockport  to  Rocliestor. 
tiCt  milef)  grading  iind  bridging,  (per  rstimatop,) 
ft()    "     Superstructure  with  J'jil^c  Uail, 
Add  for  IJranches  and  Switches, 

"  liand  JJiimages  ;>nd  Fencing, 
Damage  to  Jiuildings,  &c 


"    "  Engineering  and  Contingencies, 

Total, 
For  8  Iiooomotives,  (8  wheel,) 
"     20  First  Class  Cars,  " 
"     30  second  Chiss  Cars,  •' 
"     8  Ifaggago  Waggons,  " 
"     60  Freight        do. 
"     J''or  Depots  and  Water  Stations, 


$00,000 

:{().uoo 

20,000 

«i,000 

24,000 

25,000 


#1.00,000 
25,000 

.•1(175,000. 

$280,000 
420,000 
10,000 
75,000 
26,000 
60,000 

!i«;8(Jo,ooo 


Total  amount, 


$105,000 
81,026,000 


(NOTE  G.) 


It  is  not  perhaps  generally  nndorstood  that  rronnmy  in  the  cnnsiruction  and 
m'ina<>c7ne)U  oi  Railways  is  a  suhjcct  of  iis  much  interest  to  the  community 
as  to  the  pro|)rietors.  It  enables  the  latter,  without  diminishing  their  prnfUs, 
to  chrn pen  both  the  cost  of  transporting  iVeigiit  and  })assengers.  The  profit 
of  a  Rail  Road-r-and  it  is  peculiar  in  this  respect — depends  much  more  upon 
tiic  qunniity  of  freight  and  tra\el  on  it,  than  upon  a  hi<;h  charge  for  transptrr- 
tation.  It  has  been  ascertained  by  experience,  that  to  a  certain  extent,  a  re- 
duction of  the  cost  of  freight  and  travel,  does  stimulate  to  increase  of  receipts 
and  of  income.  It  is  now  known  that  a  Locomotive,  with  power  to  convey 
four  hundred  pfissongejs,  (on  grades  not  exceeding  twenty  feel  to  the  mile,)can 
trjivel  over  a  Rail  Road  at  the  cost  of  onedollar  per  mile,  all  expenses  included, 
or  a  quarler  of  a  cent  to  each  passenger,  |)rovided  the  whok;  number  could  al- 
ways be  obtained.  A  Rail  iload  in  a  very  j)opulouH  country,  may  prove  a  pro- 
litablo  investment  at  the  low  rate  of  one  cent  a  mile,  and  as  there  is  scarcely 
uny  limit  to  the  caj)acity  r){  a  Rail  Road  for  transporting  passengers,  it  fol- 


11 

lowflol  course,  that  ii  popiihition  HutHcimit  in  iimnberH  lunl  wonltli  in  supply 
travolorH,  in  all  that  is  roi|iiirfd  tu  in»iiru  t''e  tiUccGHd  of  u  Kail  Roiul,  at  a  wry 
low  rale,  nf  fare . 

'J'o  provo  this,  I  (rivo  an  extract  Irom  tlio  otncial  report  on  Kn;,'lisli  RuiiwuvH, 
niado  to  tho  Kroticli  (ioviTinnent  by  an  ugonf,  charged  with  iho  special  duty 
of  inukin'' a  study  of  liiosu  Raiiwtiys  : 

"Till!  Oarlinpton  llailwiiy  has  produced  by  its /oh'  rnd'.x  nf  jmna^c  and 
frcif^ht,  a  complete  revolution  in  the  rci^iunof  coinitry  uliicli  it  traverses.  If 
has  incrtasnl  llu'  Unitl  Jiiiin  oHi'  hundrtd  In  hro  Intndrrd  jicr  i-cnl.  Ily  these 
low  rates  tlic  frcii^lil  h;is  been  increased  [nnw  rh^hly  ihoiismid  tuns  ])oraiu»uni 
to  six  handrfd  and  forty  thousand  tons.  The  puHHen^errf  estiniatcd  at  fonj 
thousand,  have  been  increased  to  two  hundred  thousaTid !" 

From  the  rejwrt  of  tho  Irish  Railway  (Jr)inniissioners,  it  iipjjears  that  "  Pre- 
vious to  the  opening  of  tho  Railwiiy  between  Liverpool  and  ftlanchester,  there 
were  about  four  hundred  passenjjers  per  day,  or  one  hundred,  und  forty-six 
thousaiul  per  year,  traveling  between  those  places  by  coaches,  whereas  tho 

(Is  six  hundrtd.  thousand  a  w<ir .'" 


pro 


present  number  by  Railway  alone,  exceed 

Tho  passengers  on  the  Dinidco  and  Nowtyio  lino  exceeds,  at  thfs  time,  one. 
'humlrvd  thousand  annually,  tho  nundjor  of  persons  who  performed  tho  same 
journey  prcvioud  to  the  opening  of  tho  Railway  having  been  four  thousand 
tonly. 

JJetween  Schcnectada  and  Utica,  before  the  completion  of  that  Railway, 
tho  number  of  travelers  by  stages  and  coaches,  did  not  exceed  fifty  a  day,  or 
less  than  twenty  thousand  a  year.  The  I'ackets  and  Lino  Roats  carry  as  many 
now  as  then.  The  numlier  of  passengers  transported  over  that  Railway  in 
1845  was  not  less  thsLi\o)ii:  huu<lred and sixty-twothousand,titfourcentsa  mile. 
Tho  Receipts  of  the  Long  Island  RaiKvJty,  (one  of  the  princi|ml  routes  between 
New  York  and  Boston,)  parallel  to  the  Long  Island  Sound,  from  1st  of  August, 
1843,  to  1st  of  June,  1844,  were  $57.U00 ;  and  from  August,  1844,  to  June, 
1845,  they  were  !«<228,(J00  ! !  at  ibout  one.  cent  per  mile.  The  receipts  show 
that  it  id  very  productive,  notwitlistanding  it  has  tu  contend  with  tho  most  vig- 
orous competition  of  Rail  Roads  and  Steamboats,  carried  on  throughout  tho 
year. 

Tho  I'ottsvillo  Rail  Road,  in  I'ennsylvania,  tried  the  experiment  of  hno 
frcii^ht,  and  it  has  increased  tlie  tonnage  from  one  hundred  tliousunri,  to  nearly 
oiip  miUimi  tuns  annuaUy  of  coal  and  iron,  and  superseded  the  Canal  along 
side  of  it.  Tho  Eastern  Railway,  in  Massachusetts,  boldly  tried  the  experi- 
ment of  low  fires,  and  that  too  with  complete  success,  and  the  ratio  of  in- 
crease has  been  vastly  greater  than  on  any  other  Rail  Road  leading  into  13os- 
ton. 

Numerous  other  instances  might  bo  cited  to  provo  the  wonderful  increase 
of  travel  upon  all  Railways  that  charge  low  rales  of  fare  and  freight,  not  oidy 
in  Kngland,  but  in  this  country.  "  Some  of  our  best  managed  and  most  profi- 
table Railwiiys  are  those,  which  by  a  vigorous  opposition,  either  by  Stages, 
Steamboats,  or  Packet  Roats,  or  by  all,  have  been  compdlvd  to  reduce  tlneir 
fare  •,  and  where  the  experiment  entered  into  from  compulsion,  has  proved 
finally  to  bo  the  best  and  most  judicious  -permanent  policy." 

I  would  not  advocate  the  adoption  of  low  fares  u[)on  all  the  Railways  in 
this  country,  for  in  many  portions  the  population  would  not  sustain  them  ;  but 
1  would  contend  that  from  two  to  three,  cents  per  mile  should  be  the  highest 
charge  for  passengers,  and  from  one  and  a  half  to  two  and  a  half  cents  a  ton 
per  mile  for  freight,  upon  any  of  the  Railways  on  the  great  thoroughfares  of 
the  L'nion. 

For  the  satisfaction  of  those  who  are  not  aware  of  the  great  diflerence  that 
exists  between  light  and  heavy  rails,  it  may  be  useful  and  instructive  to  refer 
to  till!  experience  of  others  on  this  subject. 

The  heaviest  wrought  iron  rails  in  uho  inEiiglaud,  ])rior  to  tho  construction 
of  the  Jjiverpooi  and  Manchester  Railway;  weighed  but  Lwmly-eighl  pounds 


s 


12 


<i 

l( 

(i 

<i 

i. 

<l 

lo  tlic  yard,  and  proved  to  lie  much  too  light  lor  jrencriil  traflir,  and  unsale  for 
rapid  travel.  Rails  wpjghinji; Ihirhj-fiix  pounds  to  the  yard  were  then  adopted, 
but  these  also  provin<r  iiisutticicnt,  were  removed,  and  others  of  sixlij-four 
pounds  were  substituted,  which  Plill  remain  in  use.  Experience  thus  induced 
improvements  in  Jlie  construction,  and  in  the  increase  in  the  weight  of  rails, 
until  the  vast  strengtli  of  tlio  forms  now  most  ajjproved,  was  attained. 
The  rails  on  the  Midland  Counties  road  vveigiied  78  pounds  per  yard. 
Eastern        "  "  "  76 

London  Rail  Road  "  76 

North  Eastern  Counties  road  69        "  " 

"    Midland  &  the  Manchester,  66        "  " 

Groat  North  of  England  road,         62        «'  " 

Great  Western  "  66        "  " 

Of  these,  one  only  is  as  light  as  that  estimated  for  this  road,  and  in  that 
instance,  ds  in  ours,  the  rail  has  a  continuous  bearing  on  heavy  longitudinal 
Hills,  (kyaniscd)  connected  by  cross  ties,  framed  Lm  the  upper  surface,  in- 
stead of  being  supported  only  on  cross  ties,  laid  at  intervals  of  three  to  live 
feet,  as  is  the  case  on  most  roads  now  in  use.  These  sills,  by  giving  to  the 
iron  a  continuous  bearing,  contribute  greatly  to  the  strength  and  .safety  of  the 
track.  In  many  instances  in  Europe  and  this  country,  the  rails  that  have 
been  first  laid  down,  proved  too  light,  for  the  engines  that  were  put  upon 
them.  In  order  to  convey  the  immense  loads  that  were  ofrered,and  which  were 
much  greater  than  were  ever  anticipated  would  be  conveyed  when  these  roads 
were  constructed,  and  the  consequence  naturally  was,  they  were  not  sufficient 
for  the  weight  which  they  had  to  support,  and  at;  a  necessary  consequence, 
they  broke.  It  is  well  known  that  engines  of  much  greater  weight  are  used 
on  all  the  Railways  now  thiin  were  used  a  few  years  ago — they  have  in- 
creased from  8  tons  to  16  and  24  ton  engines — and  this  is  required  to  accom- 
modate the  large  increase  of  freight  and  passengers,  and  this  is  tiie  cause  of 
the  rails  having  been,  in  most  cases,  renewed  by  adopting  heavier  ones.  In- 
stances have  occurred  in  this  country,  where  a.j>late  rail  was  used  for  more 
than  six  years,  with  Engines  in  use  upon  it.  of  eighf  tons,  and  was  at  the  end 
of  that  ])eriod  in  tolerable  condition  ;  yet,  when  heavier  Engines  and  trains 
of  another  road  were  l)rought  upon  it  temporarily,  the  rails  of  tlie  road  alluded 
to,  were  nearly  destroyed  in  nine  monlhs.  That  such  an  eflect  might  be  anti- 
'Cipated,  is  obvious — and  yet  this  rail  did  not  n-ear  out  by  fair  usage,  but  was 
taxed  beyond  its  capacity,  and  this  is  the  case  of  many  roads  in  this  country. 
"  The  Railways  of  the  present  day,  with  the  Engines  now  in  use,''  says  a  late 
writer,  "  are  a  very  different  thing  from  the  Railways  and  Engines  of  1825  and 
1830  ;  for  example,  in  the  conditions,  stipulated  by  the  directors  of  the  Liv- 
erpool and  Miinchester  Company,  in  1829,  when  they  oHored  a  premium  of 
JtJSOO  "  for  an  Engine  weighing  six  tons,  capable  of  drawing  on  a  level  plane 
a  train  of  carriages  of  a  gross  weight  of  30  tons,  including  tender  and  water 
tank,  10  miles  an  hour." 

It  was  for  such  Engines  and  for  such  loads  and  velocity  that  the  Rail 
Roads  with  the  plate  or  flat  bar  (so  numerous  in  this  State)  were  intended,  as 
well  as  all  roads  built  in  England  previous  to  1835.  Would  it  be  reasonable 
to  decry  railways  as  a  moans  ol  transportation,  because  such  a  rail  wo;.'ld 
not  support  an  Engine  of  20  tons  with  its  load  of  600  tons  traveling  twenty 
miles  per  hour  ?  "  With  about  as  much  propriety  one  might  assert  that  the 
Krie  Canal  had  not  answered  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  constructed,  be- 
cause it  is  to  be  thrown  aside  for  another  of  greater  capacity,  for  one  capa- 
ble of  admitting  the  passage  nf  larger  boats.'' 

To  sliow  that  actual  wear  of  tlie  heavy  iron  rail  is  trilling,  I  quote  the 
following  from  Wood,  as  the  wear  of  rails  on  the  Stockton  &l  Darlington 
Railway:    ''Malleable    Iron   Rails,  15  feet  long,   over  which   locomotives 


• 


13 


t  I  ' 


passed,  weighing  from  8  to  11  tons,  waggons  and  their  loads  4  tons  each.— 
86,000  tons  passed  over  it  in  a  year,  exclusive  of  Engines  and  waggons. 

Weight  of  Rail,  1  cwt.  24i  lbs. 

Loss  of  weight  in  twelve  months,  eight  oz. 
'  At  page  288  of  Pambour  it  will  be  found,  that  600,000  tons,  passed  over 
the  Liverpool  and  Manchester  Railway  in  the  space  of  21  months,  and  had  re- 
duced the  weight  of  the  rail  only  1-168  of  its  primitive  weig-ht;  so  that  it 
would  require  more  than  a  hundred  years  to  reduce  it  to  half  its  present 
strength." 

The  edge  rail  is  now  manufactured  at  Dansville,  Pennsylvania,  of  as  good 
quality  as  those  imported  from  England,  and  sold  at  a  less  price  than  they 
can  be  imported.  They  have  recently  made  edge  rails  of  T  form,  weighing  61 
pounds  to  the  yard,  for  the  Ilarrisburgh  and  Lancaster  Rail  Road  for  about 
$76  per  ton,  which  is  less  than  is  estimated  for  this  road.  This  company 
are  prepared  to  make  contracts  for  large  quantities,  as  will  be  seen  by  their 
advertisement,  which  states,  that  "  IVie  Montour  Iron  Company,  Danville, 
Penn.,  is  prepared  to  execute  orders  for  the  heavy  rail  bars  of  any  pattern 
now  in  use  in  this  country  or  in  Europe,  and  equal  in  every  respect  in  point 
of  quality.'''' 

(NOTE  H.) 

It  is  v»'ell  known  that  the  competition  for  the  trade  and  travel  between  the 
northwestern  States  and  the  Atlantic  coast,  is  now,  and  always  will  be,  vigorous 
and  active  between  the  different  channels.  To  the  eastward  of  the  Niagara 
River  are  the  Erie  Canal,  360  miles  long,  from  Butfalo  to  Albany,  (open  for 
about  seven  months  in  the  year,)  and  the  line  of  flat  bar  roads,  326  miles  in 
length,  between  the  same  cities.  There  is  the  Welland  Canal,  extending 
from  Lake  Erie  to  Ontario,  (in  Canada  West,)  which  passes  Steam  Propel- 
lers and  sailing  vessels  from  the  Upper  Lakes  to  the  Canal  that  unites  Onta- 
rio with  the  Erie  Canal  at  Syracuse,  35  miles  long. 

In  addition  to  these  channels,  which  are  finished  and  in  operation,  there 
are  others  in  ditlerent  stages  of  progress,  all  having  for  their  object  the 
Western  travel,  and  amongst  which  we  may  mention  the  New  York  &  Erie 
Rail  Road,  leading  from  the  city  of  New  York  to  Dunkirk,  on  Lake  Erie,  dis- 
tance 466  miles.  A  Rail  Road  from  New  York  to  Albany  is  chartered,  145 
miles  long,  and  another  from  Albany  to  the  finished  portion  of  the  N.  Y.  & 
Erie  Rail  Road,  at  Goshen,  in  Orange  county,  90  miles  distant.  A  Rail 
Road  is  also  chartered  from  Oswego  to  Syracuse,  (parallel  to  the  Canal,) 
which  is  thirty-six  miles  long.  A  Rail  Road  is  now  in  operation  from  Niag- 
ara Falls  to  Lockport,  and  the  continuation  of  the  chartered  one  from  the  latter 
place  to  Rochester  of  56  miles,  will  give  a  d'lrect  line  from  the  Niagara  fron- 
tier to  the  larter  city.  There  is  now  a  Rail  Road  from  Buffalo  city  to  Niag- 
ara Falls,  and  there  is  to  be  one  constructed  nnmediately,  from  the  Niagara 
River  to  Detroit,and  there  to  con.iect  with  the  road  now  in  use  through  the  cen- 
tre of  Michij.ran.  There  will  no  doubt,  in  time,  be  a  Rail  Road  connecting 
Buffalo  with  Dunkirk,  Erie,  Cleaveland,  Sandusky,  a»'.d  Chicago. 

There  is  now  a  Rail  Road  from  Albany  to  Boston,  and  another  about  being 
built  from  Ogdtnsburgh  to  Boston,  to  take  the  trade  of  Lake  Ontario  and 
LoiVer  Canada,  to  that  city.  These  rival  routes  show  the  importance  of  the 
great  western  trade  and  travel,  and  in  this  trial,  at  least,  the  battle  will  be  to  the 
strong  and  the  race  to  the  swift. 

Now  let  us  see  which  of  all  these  routes  will  be  the  most  direct  and  the 
most  expeditious  and  economical  for  the  we^ern  and  eastern  trade  and  travel. 
In  the  first  place,  we  have  shown  in  Note  D  that  the  Erie  Canal  cannot  com- 
pete with  a  heavy  iron  road  for  freight  or  passengers ;  and  in  the  next  we 
«tJi,te  the  distance  from  Detroit  to  Now  York  city,  via  Dunkirk,  taking  Lake 
Erie  aud  the  New  York  anU  i^^ic  Rail  Road  ia  one  hundred  miles  farther 

J> 


14 


.1 


than  the  direct  Rail  Road  route  from  Detroit  to  New  York,  via  Niagara  and 
Albany ;  while  on  the  New  York  &  Erie  Rail  Road  there  are  continuous 
grsides  of  sixty  feet  per  mile,  both  ^o'mg  east  and  ivest ;  but  on  the  direct  route 
from  Detroit  to  New  York,  there  are  no  grades  required  (taking  the  straight 
route  from  Rochester  to  Syracuse)  ot  ovor  /»vn<7//ee^  per  mile  going  erts/,  and 
thirty  feet  going  west.  On  the  present  lines  of  flat  bar  roads  between  Buffalo 
and  Syracuse,  via.  Attica,  Rochester  and  Auburn,  there  are  grades  oi  funy- 
Jive  feet  per  mile,  going  both  east  and  west,  and  several  very  high  elevations 
to  overcome,  while  on  the  route  from  Rochester  to  the  Falls,  via.  Lockport, 
there  is  only  sixty  feet  elevation,  and  this  would  be  all  were  a  Rail  Road  built 
from  Lockport  direct  to  Buffalo,  while  the  present  elevation  on  the  existing 
Rail  Road,  from  Rochester  to  Buffalo,  is  three  hundred  and  eighty-four  feet 
near  Attica. 

This  then,  must  be  the  great  main  track  from  Buffalo  or  Niagara  to  the 
Hudson,  passing  through  Lockport,  avoiding  the  high  grades  and  summits  of 
the  present  lines,  for  it  is  unwise  to  locate  the  lines  of  great  Rail  Roads,  hav- 
ing for  their  object  the  accommodation  of  millions,  and  the  competition  of 
rivals,  over /lig^/ig-rat/es  and  elevations,  when  comparatively  level  ones  can 
be  obtained,  and  consequently  the  most  level  and  cheap  route  should  be  adopted, 
regardless  of  petty  localities.  It  is  well  known  that  the  present  line  of  Rail 
Roads  from  Albany  to  Bulfalo,  were  not  made  with  the  sole  view  of  competing 
for  the  Western  travel,  much  loss  the  Western  trade  and  freight.  They 
were  made  for  the  accommodation  of  local  towns,  at  atime  when  it  was  thought 
that  Railways  could  never  carry  rroiglil ;  consequently  the  grades  and  dis- 
tances were  not  so  important  as  when  competing  with  the  Erie  Canal  and  rival 
roads  for  the  Western  produce. 

They  were  made  in  detached  sections,  here  and  there  a  piece,  running  from 
one  villuj^e  to  another,  to  suit  the  interest  of  the  inhabitants,  and  they  have 
answered  the  purpose  for  which  they  were  constructed  ;  but  no  one  will  say 
that  they  are  built  on  the  most  dirccl  aiidfcusihle  rank:  from  Albany  to  Buffalo, 
or  such  a  route  as  would  71010  be  selected  by  competent  Engineers  or  sagacious 
capitalists,  for  the  most  dii-ect  and  cheap  Rail  Road  through  Central  New 
York. 

Where  there  are  competing  lines  of  Railways,  the  question  of  grades  and 
elevations,  becomes  of  great  importance,  as  it  has  been  shown  from  satisfac- 
tory experiments,  on  variou.s  Roads,  both  in  this  country  and  Europe,  thatan 
inclination  of  twenty  feet  to  the  mile  only,  on  a  Road  in  good  adjustment,  re- 
quires for  its  ascent  a  power  nearly  double,  and  one  forty  feet  per  mile,  a 
power  treble,  and  one  sixty  feet  per  mile,  a  power  (juadruple  that  which  is  re- 
(|uired  to  draw  the  same  weight  on  a  level,  at  the  same  velocity  and  on  the 
same  kind  of  road. 

The  following  table  will  give  a  sufficiently  correct  view  in  round  numbers, 
of  the  business  load  wlii(;h  !i  Jiocomotive,  weighing  ten  tons,  and  working 
within  her  power,  can  "nrry  at  the  average  speed  of  ten  miles  i)er  hour,  on  a 
permanent  track  with  nnedge  rail.  Heavier  J'jngines  would  of  course  do 
more,  and  at  cheaper  rates. 

Level,  80  Cars,  tiiree  tons  each,  net  is  240  tons. 

"      "         •'        "     150     " 
(1      ((         (>        ti       on     " 

i(         u  u  a         ng      (( 

(I         a  t(  ((         ijM      (( 

Thus  it  will  bo  seen  that  a  Road  with  a  maximum  grade  of  twenty  ieet  will 
allow  150  tons  of  freight  to  be  carried  over  it  at  the  sarne  price  that  a  road 
with  forty  Ieet  grades  will  ninety  tons,  or  one  with  sixty  feet  grades,  sixty  tons, 
with  the  slight  additional  expense  of  the  wear  and  oil,  for  an  additional  num- 
ber of  /■rt'ti,'-/t/ cars  only,  as  the  cost  of  transportation,  hilerest  on  capital,  &.c. 


10  ft. 

60 

do 

20  " 

60 

do 

30  " 

40 

do 

40  •• 

30 

do 

50  " 

25 

do 

60  " 

20 

do 

\         > 


«         > 


15 

&c.  is  the  same.  It  is  therefore  plain,  tliat  if  the  New  York  and  Erie  Rail 
Road  can  carry  freight  at  two  cents  a  mile  per  ton,  the  Rochester  and  Niagara 
Rail  Road  would  make  money  at  one  cent  a  ton  per  mile,  for  one  would  carry 
one  hundred  and  fifty  tons  to  a  train,  with  the  same  power  that  the  other  trans- 
ported only  sixty  tons,  allowing  the  trachs  to  be  equal,  and  full  loads  offered. 

Who  can  doubt  then  that  the  direct  route  from  the  Niagara  to  the  Hudson, 
(when  completed,  as  it  soon  will  be,)  will  be  the  great  thoroughfare  for  Wcs-^ 
tern  trade  and  travel  ? 

(NOTE  K.)  • 

NIAGARA  SUSPENSION  BRIDGE. 


Philadelphia,  Nov.  27,  1846. 
To  Geo.  S.  Tiffany,  Esq.,  Chairman  of  the  (Jreat  Western  Rail  Road  Com- 
pany, and  Washington  Hunt,  Esq.,  President  of  the  Niagara  Falls  and 
Lockport  Railroad  Company. 
Gentlemen : — 

The  questions  which  have  been  put  to  me  by  the  Chairman  of  the  Great 
Western  Rail  Road  Company,  and  by  the  President  of  the  Niagara  Falls  and 
Lockport  Railroad  Company,  in  reference  to  the  practicability,  cost  and  se- 
curity of  a  Railroad  Bridge  across  the  Niagara  river  below  the  Falls,  to  unite 
their  works  and  remove  the  only  interruption  to  a  great  line  of  intercourse, 
coinciding  in  all  essential  particulars,  I  have  thought  it  well  to  reply  to  both 
parties  in  the  same  paper,  so  that  one  communication  may.cover  all  the  import- 
ant ground. 

For  this  purpose  I  will  repeat  the  questions  of  Mr.  Tiffany,  and   in  com- 
pliance witii  the  concluding  sentence  of  his  letter,  ofl'cr  such  other  informa- 
tion in  my  reply,  as  may  seem  to  be  explaniitory  of  the  subject. 
The  following  are  the  questions  as  submitted  : 

1.  "Have  you  examined  the  Niagara  river  below  the  Falls,  with  a  view  to 
the  construction  of  a  Suspension  Bridge? 

2.  "  If  so,  do  you  think  it  practicable  ? 

3.  "  How  far  would  the  proposed  site  bo  from  the  Falls  ? 

4.  "  Of  what  material  would  you  advise  the  Bridge  to  be  built? 
6.  "  What  would  it  cost,  and  what  time  would  it  take  to  build  it  ? 

6.  "Can  it  be  so  constructed  so  as  to  be  perfectly  safe  for  Locomotives 
trailing  200  tons  to  pass  over  it  with  velocity,  without  putting  the  Bridge  to 
the  extent  of  its  power  ? 

In  reply  to  those  questions,  I  have  to  say  that  I  have  examined  several  sites 
for  a  Bridge  across  Niagara  river,  commencing  with  a  point  above  the  Falls, 
on  (jioat  Island,  and  passing  thence  to  other  places  below  the  Falls,  and  in  the 
neighborhoed  of  Lewiston. 

So  far  as  regards  the  simple  question  of  practicability,  either  of  these  might 
be  selected,  and  a  Bridge  competent  to  all  the  duties  of  Railroad  traffic,  con- 
structed with  perfect  security  and  success.  But  the  position  which  appears 
to  be  most  suitable,  on  account  of  the  near  approach  of  opposite  cliffs,  and  of 
the  favorable  lorm  of  the  ground  for  the  fastening  of  the  cables,  and  the  en- 
trance of  the  Railroads  on  either  side,  is  about  one  and  a  half  miles  belov/ 
the  Falls ;  and  I  i)elieve  the  lowest  point  on  the  east  bank  of  the  river  from 
which  the  Cataract  is  visible. 

This  point  is  a  short  distance  above  the  Whirlpool.  The  river  is  here  700 
feet  wide,  measuring  from  rock  to  rock  ;  ijut  as  the  upper  ledge  of  the  lime 
stone  rather  ovovbangs  the  base,  it  is  neccssiiry  to  full  back,  for  the  sake  of 
security,  and  nuiko  the  span  of  the  Bridge  about  IM  foet. 

The  surface  of  the  rock  on  the  Now  York  shore,  is  210  feet 
above  th»>  Niagiini.  The  material  is  of  firm  structure,  ;inii  oflcrs  an  unex- 
ceptionable loinulatiou.  The  space  to  bo  spanned  is  (Mitirely  within  safe 
limits. 


16 


The  qneBtion  of  practicability  admits  of  no  discussion.  The  only  points 
which  it  seems  necessary  to  consider,  are  the  probal)le  cost  of  tho  w^rk,  and 
the  value  of  the  motives  for  its  construction.  Bridges  of  greater  span  have 
been  erected  and  tested  by  ten  years'  use;  and  if  tbo  present  objects  rcrjuire 
a  work  capable  of  sustaining  heavier  weigbts,  or  which  must  bj  subjected  to 
rougher  usage  than  those  which  have  been  made,  it  must  be  rendered  propor- 
tionally stronger  and  securer.  But  while  such  considerations  influence  the 
msl,  they  cannot  raise  up  a  question  of  practicablity. 

Tlio  material  which  I  would  propose  to  employ  is  iron  wire  formed  into  ca- 
bles of  adequate  strength,  in  the  mode  usually  adopted  for  Suspension 
Bridges. 

This  is,  in  fact,  the  only  material  suitable  for  tho  purpose  ;  and  is  recom- 
mended by  its  extreme  tenacity,  great  security,  and  the  additional  motive  of 
economy. 

A  wire  cable  12  miles  longmiglit  be  made  and  suspr-^dod  safely  between 
the  summits  of  mountains  of  which  the  height  is  five  miles  above  the  lowest 
point  of  the  curve  ;  and  such  a  cable  stretched  between  supports  of  750  feet 
apart,  and  drawn  to  the  tension  usual  in  Suspension  Bridges,  will  sustain 
first  its  own  weight  and  then  some-  twenty-live  times  its  own  weight  in 
addition. 

If  a  bridge  of  a  given  span  bo  secure  wlien  used  for  the  transportation  of 
given  weights  over  it,  by  doubling  tho  number  of  cables  and  the  strength  of 
the  flooring,  it  would  sustain  loads  twice  as  heavy — and  by  trebling  the  (juan- 
tity  and  strength  of  the  material,  we  may  treble  or  increase  in  the  same  pro- 
portion, the  magnitude  of  its  load. 

The  Bridge,  which  is  the  subject  of  this  paper,  is  intended  to  have  a  singlo 
railway  track  in  the  centre,  and  two  lateral  ways  for  common  travel,  and  two 
foot  ways. 

It  will  span  the  gorge  of  the  river  at  a  single  sweep  of  760  feet,  and  will* 
he  sustained  on  each  side  by  columns  of  massive  masonry,  finely  wrought, 
and  built  as  firmly  as  the  rock  on  which  they  rest. 

The  bridge  will  be  supported  by  20  cables  of  iron  wire — 10  on  each  side — 
each  of  which  will  be  nearly  5  inches  in  diameter,  100  feet  long,  and  weigh 
about  29  tons. 

The  weight  of  the  pendant  portion  of  the  Bridge,  when  not  loaded,  will  be 
from  600  to  700  tons.  The  strength  of  the  material  is  calculated  with  a  view 
to  the  possibility  of  leads  of  400  tons  being  placed  on  the  flooring.  The 
greatest  tentioji  which  the  cables  will  ever  have  to  resist,  will  be  2,300  tons. 
The  absolute  strength  of  the  largest  cables  will  be  600  tons,  and  the  aggregate 
strength  of  the  20  main  cables  will  be  9000  tons. 

These  supporting  cables  will  be  attached,  at  their  extremities,  to  the  solid 
rock  by  a  process  similar  to  that  which  T  liave  adopted  with  satisfaction  for 
the  eastern  fastening  of  the  cables  of  the  Fairmount  Bridge.  They  will  be 
sustained  at  the  summits  of  the  columns  on  moveable  saddles,  by  means  of 
which  compensation  may  be  ol)taine(l  for  the  expansion  ami  C(mtraction  of  the 
material  without  producing  any  injurious  action  on  tho  masonry. 

I  estimate  the  cost  of  this  work — assuming  that  it  is  to  l)ei)uilt  for  Railway 
purposes,  and  in  the  .'substantial  stylo  proposed — at  !Jii|220,OOO. 

The  time  required  to  couipleto  it  will  depend  much  on  tluf  season  of  tho 
year  when  it  is  (commenced.  If  tho  jireliminary  arrangements  can  Ikj  effected 
this  winter,  so  that  the  work  may  l»e  begun  in  early  spring,  it  may  be  com- 
pleted in  tlie  course  of  the  year. 

The  ne.xt  point  for  conf^idoration  is,  will  the  objects  to  be  3ul>served  by  tho 
Bridge  justify  the  necessary  outlay  ? 

The  objects  arc  the  c)i)taiiiing  of  tlm  luost  direct  route  for  the  great  line 
of  Rail  Road  reaching  from  Lake  Michigan  to  Ho^ton — the  saving  of  distance 
computed  at  1 1  miles — the  avoiding  of  transhipment  and  lerriage  from  Fort 
Krie  to  Biifiido — the  Having  of  lime  at  all  seasons,  and  the  prevention  of  a 


\ 


fk 


;>•. 


X 


17 


total  interruption  of  traffic  consequent  on  the  accumulation  of  ice  at  the  head 
of  the  Niagara  river  in  the  winter. 

To  judge  of  the  propriety  of  constructing  a  bridge,  we  must  first  form 
some  esUniato  of  the  v;iliii>  ol'  those  considerations.  For  this  purpose  I  will 
assume,  tliat  tiie  length  of  tlio  Great  Western  lliiil  Road,  if  it  terminate  on 
the  Niagara  River  below  the  Falls,  will  be,  as  estimated,  11  miles  shorter  than 
if  it  is  carried  by  Fort  Erie  and  Buffdio. 

We  shall  then  have 

1.  The  saving  of  the  construction  of  11  miles  of  road,  the  first  cost  of 
which,  in  the  absence  of  actual  surveys  and  authentic  facts,  may  be  estimated 
at  )$20,000  a  mile,  and  for  11  miles  $220,000. 

2.  The  cost  of  maintaining  and  repairing  11  miles  of  road  with  single 
track — worth,  on  the  average,  $600  a  mile,  or  $6,600  per  annum,  which  is 
equivalent  to  a  capital  of  $110,000. 

3.  The  cost  of  working  11  miles  of  road  depends  on  the  amount  of  trade 
and  travel  to  be  accommodated.  The  Western  Road  in  Massachusetts,  in 
1844,  carried  an  amovint  of  tonnage  equivalent  to  71,000  tons  transported 
over  the  whole  length  of  the  lino.  TI;o  Boston  and  Worcester  Road  the 
same  year  conveyed  in  all  126,000  tons.  The  Boston  and  Lowell  Road 
lfi0,O0O,  and  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  103,000.  The  Southern  Roads  gene- 
rally carry  much  less  than  these  quantities ;  but  viewing  the  location  of  the 
(Jreat  Western  Road  in  Canada,  and  the  fertile  country  which  it  is  said  to 
pass  through,  I  think  it  not  unreasonable  to  assume  that  its  trade  will  be  at 
least  60,000  tons  per  annum. 

The  cost  of  transporting  freight  on  the  best  managed  roads  of  this  country — 
as  well  as  on  those  of  Great  Britain  and  Europe — is  about  two  cents  per  ton 
por  mile. 

60,000  tons  carried  11  miles  at  two  cents,  is  $11,000  per  annum,  which  is 
equivalent  to  a  capital  of  $183,333. 

4.  The  cost  of  conveying  passengers  will  depend  also  on  the  number  to 
be  conveyed.  But  I  think  we  may  safely  assume  that  there  will  be  two  daily 
trains  each  way,  at  a  cost  per  mile  run  of  50  cents,  over  and  above  the  road 
repairs. 

Four  daily  trains  running  11  miles  at  60  cents  each  per  mile,  will  give 
$22  per  diem,  and  for  300  days,  $0,600,  which  is  equivalent  to  a  capital  of 
$110,000. 

6.  The  cost  of  running  a  ferry  boat  on  a  ferry  two  and  a  half  miles  in 
length,  with  the  necessary  shore  fixtures,  cannot  be  set  down  at  less  than 
$30  a  day,or  $9,000  per  annum — which  is  equivalent  to  a  capital  of  $150,000 

6=  The  expense  of  transhipping  goods,  in  addition  to  the  maintenance  of 
a  ferry  boat,  will  be  equal  to  20  cents  a  ton  on  all  goods  conveyed.  On 
60,000  tons  it  will  be  $10,000  per  annum,  which  is  equivalent  to  a  further 
capital  of  $166,666. 

7.  The  loss  arising  from  the  total  interruption  of  the  trade  and  travel  in 
the  winter,  when  this  ferry  will  be  impassible,  will  be  a  very  heavy  item, 
though  one  which  I  am  not  prepared  to  estimate.  I  have  no  correct  data  for 
determining  the  probable  amount  of  interruption  which  will  arise  from  this 
cause ;  but  it  is  fair  to  assume  that  the  (Jreat  Western  Road  will  earn  six  per 
cent,  on  a  capital  of  $5,000,000,  clear  of  all  the  expenses  of  the  line. 

liCaving  out  of  view  entirely  the  loss  which  will  be  increased  by  the  roads 
on  the  east  side  of  the  Niagara,  any  interruption  to  the  Canadian  improve- 
ment alone  will  be  equal  to  a  sacrifice  of  $300,00i>  per  annum,  or  to  a  loss  of 
$1000  for  each  working  day.  Each  day  of  total  interruption,  at  a  season  of 
the  year  when  there  is  no  competition,  will  involve  a  loss  of  $1000;  and  as 
the  abstraction  of  this  day's  earnings  is  a  thing  of  annual  occurrence,  it  may 
be  represented  by  an  equivalent  capital  of  $16,666. 

if  it  should  appear  on  a  close  inquiry  that  a  dependence  on  a  ferry  at  thf» 
licad  of  the  Niagara  will  result  in  a  total  stoj)pagc  of  the  trade  of  the  (ireat 


18 

Western  Road  for  30  days  in  the  year,  then  it  would  seem  to  bo  good  policy 
to  expend,  for  tlic  purpose  of  removing  the  evil : 

For  each  day,  $l<),fi6r);  for  30  days,  $500,000. 

These  are  the  Iradinn;  itoms — and  the  only  oneH  T  believe  which  we  are  able 
to  estimate  with  any  reasonable  de^ee  of  approximation— of  the  objections 
to  the  adoption  of  a  ferry  and  the  conblruction  of  the  longer  line  of  road. 

It  is  not  pretended  that  any  of  these  quantities  can  lay  much  claim  to  accu-. 
racy  ;  yet  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  if  yoii  will  examine  the  several  items 
separately  and  closely,  they  are  more  likely  to  appear  under,  than  over 
valued. 

Taking  them,  however,  as  thev  result,  wo  have, 

1.  The  cost  of  11  miles  of  road,  $220,000 

2.  Repairs  and  maintenance  of  11  miles  of  road,  110,000 

3.  Cost  of  carrying  60,000  tons  over  11  miles  of  road  annually, 
equivalent  to  a  capital  of  189,333 

4.  Carrying  passengers  1 1  miles,  110,000 
6.  Maintaining  and  running  a  ferry  boat,  150,000 
(5.     Transhipment  of  tonnage,  and  depot  expenses,                              166,666 

*  Equivalent  total  capital,  $940,000 

If  the  data  which  I  have  assumbed,  be  correct — if  there  be  as  estimated,  a 
difference  of  1 1  miles  of  distance  in  favor  of  the  route  by  the  Falls,  which 
obviates  the  necessity  of  a  ferry  and  of  all  delay  and  of  transhipment — that 
route  will  be  worth  to  the  Great  Western  Company  some  $940,000  more  than 
the  other  without  including  at  all  the  loss  consequent  on  tlie  total  suspension 
of  traffic  which  may  be  occasioned  by  the  ice  which  accumulates  at  the  outlet 
of  Jiake  Erie. 

If  this  intermission  amount  to  10  days  in  a  year,  it  is  equivalent  to  an  ad- 
ditional capital  of  $166,000  :  and  if  it  amount  to  30  days,  it  would  justify  an 
outlay  of  $500,000  to  remove  it. 

I  will  leave  this  item  for  others,  more  conversant  with  the  navigation  of  the 
Lake,  to  estimate.  It  is  enough  at  present  to  know  that  there  is  such  an  in- 
terruption, and  that  it  will  not  only  amount  to  many  days  in  the  year,  but  that 
even  when  it  docs  not  amout  to  a  total  stoppage  of  the  traffic,  it  is  still  sufficient 
to  produce  great  delay  and  serious  embarrassment. 

This  obstruction  is  in  fact  so  great  that  even  for  the  convenience  of  parties 
seeking  to  reach  Buffiilo,  it  would  be  better  to  cross  on  a  bridge  at  the  Falls, 
and  avoid  the  ferry,  than  to  submit  to  its  exposure  and  delay. 

The  profits  of  the  Rail  Road  from  the  Falls  to  BufUilo,  will  therefore  be 
greatly  promoted  by  the  construction  of  the  Bridge. 

The  cost  of  a  Bridge  such  as  I  have  described,  and  which  will  remove  those 
impediments  to  trade  and  travel,  both  on  the  Canadian  and  American  lines  of 
improvement,  will  be,  as  stated,  $220,000. 

The  structure  itself  will  be  a  beautiful  and  durable  object,  and  the  invest- 
ment a  great  deal  better  and  more  profitable  than  that  of  any  Rail  Road  lino 
now  in  use  on  this  continent. 

I  will  make  no  specific  estimate  of  the  probable  value  of  the  stock.  To 
yourselves,  as  the  head  of  the  two  lines  of  Railway  most  immediately  inter- 


*  The  Engineer  hns  here  beca  misinformed  as  to  the  difiercnco  in  the  illstnnro  from  Ilninil  ton 

totlie  Falls  and  to  Port  Krlc  opposite  Itultiilo.     Vr Ilainilton  to  the  Falls,  byway  of  tlie  UhII 

Hoadwill  be  41)  miles,  and  from  the  same  jdacc  to  Fort  Erie,  .Wndlos;  dilVerence  10  miles.  Adop- 
ting then  the  Engineer's  rates  for  10  instead  of  11  miles,  it  would  be  us  follows: 
1.    <;ostof  IGmilesof  Hoad,  88.120,000 

Ucpalrs  and  maintenance  of  10  miles  road  crpiivalent  to  a  rapital  of  KiO.lKMI 

Cost  to  carry  50,000  tons  of  freight  over  Ki  miles  road  eciiiiv  alent  to  a  capital  of  !20(i,00:j 

C'arryinf;  passcnfrers  Ki  miles  equivalent  to  .1  capital  of  IfiO.OOO 

Maintaining  and  runninti  ferry  boat,  l.'Vt.OOd 

'rranshipmcnt  of  tonnage  and  I )ei)ot  expenses,  H)0,«t(Mi 


E(iuivalent  total  capital, 


$i,'j'i:«,:i-j 


'      I     * 


19 

eslpd  in  the  consummation  of  the  work,  these  arc  considerations  more  impor- 
tant than  the  dividends  that  may  he  anticipated. 

I  have  endeavored  to  submit  these  considerations  for  your  reflection,  in  tlie 
belief  that  you  will  have  confidence  enough  in  the  enterprise  to  carry  it 
through,  and  gain  to  your  respective  companies  and  the  public  the  benefits  of 
the  advantages  whicn  it  holds  out. 

For  further  explanations  and  calculations  respecting  the  construction  and 
equilibrium  of  such  bridges,  I  must  refer  you  to  the  printed  documents  accom- 
panying this  paper,  in  which  I  have  entered  into  all  necessary  detail. 

Finally,  in  reply  to  the  inquiry  as  to  the  ability  of  the  bridge  to  sustain  the 
weight  of  a  locomotive  engine  drawing  a  train  of  200  tons,  at  higli  velocity, 
I  have  to  say  that  I  am  prepared  to  construct  tlio  work  for  the  sum  at  which 
1  estimate  its  cost — to  complete  it  within  the  year  1846 — and  to  test  its 
strength  by  running  a  locomotive  engine  drawing  200  tons  as  often  over  it  as 
may  be  desired,  and  at  the  highest  speed  that  the  engine  can  attain. 
Submitting  these  remarks  for  your  consideration, 
I  am,  Gentlemen, 

Respectfully  your  obedient  servant, 

CHARLES  ELLET,  Jr.,  Civil  Engineer. 


P.  S.  Since  closing  this  communication  I  have  received  a  letter  from  a 
gentleman  who  takes  much  interest  in  the  enterprise,  desiring  to  know  for 
how  much  less  the  bridge  might  be  built  if  it  were  made  with  a  view  to  pass 
Rail  Road  cars  drawn  over  by  horses,  or  carried  over  i)y  tlie  velocity  wliicli 
the  Engine  had  previously  communicated  to  the  train,  without  subjecting  it  to 
the  concentrated  weight  of  the  Ijocomotive. 

This  modification  of  tiie  plan  might  be  adopted,  if  it  were  thought  advisable, 
with  a  saving  in  the  tirst  cost  of  about  ,Sji30,000 — reducing  the  whole  e.xpense 

to  .ii!i9y,ooo. 

This  change  would  not  intei  fere  with  the  further  additions  by  which  the 
bridge  would  be  fitted  for  the  use  of  Locomotives,  if  it  should  ever  be  found 
desirable  to  bring  the  Engine  of  the  Provincial  Road  upon  this  side. 

CHARLES  ELLET,  Ju. 

At  the  proposed  site  of  the  Suspension  Bridge  over  the  Niagara  River,  about 
one  mile  below  the  Falls,  a  new  and  wide  carriage  road,  with  easy  grades,  anu 
protection  walls,  lias  been  made  the  last  year,  on  the  American  shore,  from  the 
high  banks  (near  Bellevue  Mineral  Spring)  to  the  river,  by  the  "  Niagara 
Falls  Ferry  Associaliun"  at  an  expense  of  several  thousand  dollars,  and  there 
is  now  a  large  and  splendid  Slcam  Ferry  Boat,  being  built  by  this  company, 
with  deck  room  for  Itoelve  carriages  and  two  hundred  jiassengers  at  a  time,  and 
a  double  set  of  Steam  Engines  of  great  power,  so  as  to  render  the  boat  per- 
fectly safe  from  accident. 

This  company  are  about  constructing  a  carriage  road  of  equal  extent  on 
Ihe  opposite  shore,  immediately  opposite,  and  intend  to  have  the  steamer  ply 
directly  aa'oss  the  Niagara  river — which  is,  at  the  foot  of  these  roads,  only 
one  thousand  feet  in  width,  and  as  low  down  as  this,  is  never  obstructed  by  ice, 
so  as  to  prevent  navigation — although  at  the  foot  of  the  cataract,  the  ice  fre- 
<iuently  piles  up  in  large  masses,  and  remains  lodged  for  some  time,  interfering 
at  times  with  the  row  boat  ferry  at  that  point.  But  at  this  point  the  river  is 
quite  narrow,  and  the  und^ir  current  is  rapid,  and  takes  off  the  ice,  (which  be- 
comes heavy  and  sinks  after  laying  some  time  at  the  foot  of  t!ie  falls,  in  the 
large  basin  there,)while  the  surface  of  the  water  above  the  rapids  will  be  en- 
tirely free  from  ice  of  any  thickness  or  size.  The  river  at  that  point  has  been 
closed  against  row  boats  only  twice  in  17  years,  as  1  am  informed  by  those  re- 
siding there.  This  ferry,  so  much  and  so  long  needed  at  Niagara  Falls,  will 
doubtless  udd  much  to  the  attraction  of  the  place,  as  it  will  enable  visitors  to 


20 


visit  both  sidps  of  I  ho  rivor  in  carriages,  instead  of  the  fatipno  of  asccndinff 
and  deacondini,'  tiio  Htc|)»  on  tlie  banks.  Even  if  the  bridge  should  be  delayed 
a  year  or  two,  (on  account  of  tho  7var  panic)  the  passengers,  baggage  and 
freight  from  the  VVestiTU  Rail  Road  could  be  transmitted  fron.  one  side  to  the 
other  with  nnich  more  expedition  and  safety  than  at  tho  (wo  mile  ferry  at  Buf- 
falo, and  also  save  the  tierce  comimtilion  with  Stcamboals  atthatcity  for  Detroit 
passengers. 

"  Great  Western  Rail  Road. — The  Survey  of  this  Road  was  commen- 
ced last  week  by  two  parties  under  the  direction  ofH.  Strange  and  Wm.  Hale, 
Esqrs.,  civil  engineers.  Mr.  Strange  commenced  on  the  shore  of  the  Bay  at 
the  foot  of  John  street,  and  is  to  gain  the  summit  level  of  the  mountain  in  an 
easterly  direction,  and  thenci'  proceed  to  Fort  Eric,  opposite  Butfalo,  and  also 
to  the  rails,  or  tho  j>roposed  site  of  the  suspension  bridge.  We  understand 
another  line  is  also  to  run  in  an  easterly  direction,  and  to  make  the  ascent  at 
or  near  St.  (^^atharines.  Mr.  Hale  conunences  his  survey  at  Land's  wharf, 
and  is  to  gain  thesununit  of  tho  mountain  in  a  Westerly  direction  with  a  view 
of  continuing  to  Windsor  on  tlic  Detroit  River. 

We  understand  that  other  surveying  parties  will  be  put  upon  other  portions 
of  the  lino  shortly.  The  Directors  are  adopting  the  most  energetic  measures 
to  have  the  work  com|)loted  in  the  shortest  period." — Uamillon  Gazette. 


